One of the Original Champ’s Memories of the First Midlands
Article by Mark Palmer, Photos by Danielle Hobeika

Dustin Manotti of Cornell (left) defeated 4 time Midlands champ John Fisher of the Sunkist Kids (right) in the 149 lb. finals

In December 2002, the Midlands wrestling tournament celebrated its 40^th anniversary… by honoring the first champions from 1963.

At the time of the first Midlands -- the last week of December 1963 -- the country was still recovering from the shock of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy one month earlier. The Chicago Bears were playing the New York Giants for the NFL national title. (This was three years before the creation of the Super Bowl.) The number one pop song was “Dominique” by the Singing Nun; in a contrast of moods, the now-famous party classic “Louie, Louie” was third on the Billboard charts. (It would be another month before the Beatles burst onto the scene with their first U.S. hit, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”)

Dennis McCabe remembers December 1963 like it was yesterday. He was the 190-pound wrestler from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale… and one of the champs from that inaugural Midlands.

Joe Willams (center) made Midlands history by earning his 9th Midlands Championship title this year after defeating Tyler Nixt in the 174 lb finals.

“First of all, it wasn’t called the Midlands in its first year,” says Denny. “It was called the West Suburban YMCA Open, and it truly was an ‘open’ where anyone could show up and compete. By contrast, I’d describe today’s Midlands as being an ‘open invited.’”

“They had no idea how many wrestlers would show up that first year. I think everyone was surprised to see there were approximately 140 competitors,” according to Denny. “The gym at the Y wasn’t much bigger than your typical high school gym, and, with three mats on the floor, there wasn’t much room left over for wrestlers and spectators. It was wall-to-wall people. There really wasn’t any room to work out or warm up. In fact, I remember having to almost fight my way through the crowd to get to my matches.”

Not only were there plenty of competitors… but the quality of competition was high, with a large contingent of Big Ten wrestlers, college All-Americans, and post-collegiate grapplers gearing up for the 1964 Olympic trials.

Foley Dowd of Michigan (left) defeated Zach Roberson of Iowa State (right) by a 6-4 margin to win the 133 pound Midlands Championship title

Why was the first-time event such a success right from the start? As Denny puts it, “There had never been a holiday wrestling tournament in our part of the country.” (In fact, the idea for the event came as Northwestern University wrestling coach Ken Kraft was making the long, grueling trip home from the Wilkes tournament in eastern Pennsylvania.) Another plus: Legendary coach Cliff Keen provided something of an endorsement by bringing his Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines to the inaugural event.
Denny adds another possible reason for the high participation levels. “The timing was great. For those of us from Illinois, it was a chance to compete while we were home from the holidays,” says the graduate of Maine East High School, which is not to far from the YMCA hosting the event in LaGrange.

As for the competition itself, twenty-year-old Denny McCabe wrestled a total four matches to win the 190 lb. Midlands title, defeating Michigan’s Joe Arcure 7-2 in the finals. His Southern Illinois teammate Larry Kristoff won the heavyweight title match in a referee’s decision over Bob Billberg of Morehead State. Kristoff went on to win a total of four consecutive Midlands championships, and earn a place on the 1964 and 1968 Olympic teams. In fact, SIU-Carbondale had the most champions at the 1963 Midlands, with a total of four, including Terry Finn at 123 lbs, and Don Schneider at 130 lbs. (Sadly, SIU-Carbondale no longer has a Division I wrestling program.)

Iowa won the Midlands team title for the 21st time in its school's history

Michigan came in second in terms of the number of individual champions, with three: Mike Palmisano at 115 lbs, Cal Jenkins at 137, and Rick Bay at 167. Northwestern’s Jerry Torrence won the 150-pound title, while Dave Gibson of Purdue took the crown at 157.

There was no official Outstanding Wrestler award at the 1963 Midlands, though many believe it would have been awarded to Roy Conrad, a 30-year-old former NCAA champion for Northern Illinois University in 1960. Conrad, who wrestled unattached, defeated future NCAA champion Don Millard for the 177 lb. title. (Roy is the uncle of Randy Conrad, who competed at the 2002 Midlands at age 42.)

All of these first champions were honored in grand style at the 40^th anniversary edition of the Midlands. “When we checked into the hotel in Evanston, we each received a box with commemorative t-shirts, a sweatshirt and program,” according to Denny. “We were also honored with a dinner banquet at Northwestern’s football stadium. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was there. As we were looking out over the football field, the scoreboard put up the names of the 1963 champions. It was a thrill.”

Jon Trenge of Lehigh (right) captured the 197 lb title by upsetting #1 seed Lee Fullhart

To conclude the commemoration on a high note, the original champions presented the latest Midlands winners with their titles. Denny had the honor of hanging a medal around 2002 Midlands 197 lb. champ Jon Trenge’s neck. And the Midlands legacy continues.
NOTE: In addition to Denny McCabe’s gracious assistance, source material for this article came from an article in the 2002 Midlands program, “1963: It Was A Very Good Year” by Tom Tomashek, from Mike Chapman’s book, From Gotch to Gable: A History of Wrestling in Iowa, and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Mark Palmer is a freelance advertising copywriter and corporate journalist in Cincinnati who is a long-time wrestling fan. He is moderator of the Yahoo wrestling discussion group AmateurWrestlingFanAddicts.