On Friday, February 10, 2012 I flew down to Stillwater, Oklahoma to watch the first round of the National Duals being hosted by Oklahoma State University. While I was there I got to watch the OSU wrestling team dismantle the Wyoming and Ohio State wrestling squads. The meets took place in legendary Gallagher Hall in front of a crowd of 6000 knowledgeable wrestling enthusiasts. The fans were dressed in the traditional school colours of orange and black, including every age range from new-borns, high school and college students to octogenarians. With every OSU take-down the crowd would erupt with applause, even the ATTEMPTS would receive an excited roar from the fans. I watched in amazement as the crowd was electrified by their team’s performance, the cheers were more comparable to a UFC event than any wrestling dual meet that I had ever seen. When speaking to people in the crowd I was told that the cheers I was hearing did not even liken to the days of when my father wrestled for Oklahoma State, Gallagher Hall was always at capacity in those days and the fans were a little more passionate about their sport. One fan told me a story about a dual meet where the crowd got so loud that the reverberation from their screams caused the ceiling lights at Gallagher Hall to shatter.
My tour guide for the weekend was 1971 All-American Jim Shields! Jim placed 3rd at the 1971 NCAA Championships, he had stepped up to the plate after my father had injured his knee and was unable to compete. At Oklahoma State he was part of three NCAA team titles: in 1971 as an athlete and in 1989 and 1990 as a coach, more recently Jim has been honoured by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award. You can’t a better tour guide than that folks!
On Saturday evening Jim and I attended a dinner, at the distinguished O Club, in honour of the late Myron Roderick; the OSU wrestling coach who had recruited my father to attend Oklahoma State. At the dinner Jim introduced me to some of my father’s old teammates and other wrestling notables such as Leroy Smith, Dave Martin and the wife of OSU legendary coach Tommy Chesbro, Shirley. Shirley said she remembered Dad’s match with Chris Taylor at the 72 NCAA Championships saying, “Harry had Taylor up against the ropes, what an exciting match”. I would meet more of my dad’s old teammates there at the dinner such as two-time NCAA Champion Dwayne Keller and All-American Bobby Stites; both would provide me with some great background stories for the book.
Jim took me around campus showing me all the notable OSU locations from Gallagher Hall to Eskimo Joe’s Bar. He showed me where the old OSU wrestling room was located back in 1972 and got me access to the current wrestling room. Outside the current wrestling room he showed me the All-American board mounted on the wall with his and my father’s names listed.
At the Duals Jim introduced me to a wrestling fan named Mark who said he had watched my father wrestled on television as a part of the Bedlam series against Oklahoma University. Mark was an OU fan and was always cheering against my father. Mark was able to share some knowledge of the OSU and OU rivalries from a fans perspective that I hope will translate well in my book.
The trip was a great success and I owe a lot of thanks to Jim Shields and his girlfriend Amy for answering my question, showing me around Stillwater, Oklahoma and introducing me to their friends! Thanks you!
Jim Shields 1971
Miss you uncle Harry ... Yes I did say uncle.... My dad was his brother
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