Harry Geris vs Penn State!
In researching material for this book, I have had to track
down some of my father’s old teammates, training partners, coaches and opponents. Talking about my father’s past with these
individuals has given me a different perspective of how my dad lived his life
in his early years. I have heard about his dedication from his teammates and his pure gentle nature from his family
and his closest friends. His opponents have
given me a different insight to dad’s competitive wrestling days, since my
father would rarely discuss that era.
I had the recent pleasure of speaking with Penn State’s
Athletic Director, Dave Joyner. Dave
Joyner was Dad’s quarter-final opponent at the 1972 NCAA Wrestling
Championships held at the University of Maryland. The previous year Dave Joyner was the
runner-up at the 1971 NCAA Championships, where Joyner narrowly lost the
National title to Greg Wojciechowski.
Dave Joyner is also a member of the All-Time Nittany Lion
(Penn State) Football Team and he received the Outstanding Football Alumnus
Award from the Penn State University Quarterback Club in 1985. He was inducted
into the GTE-CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame, named as a Penn State
University Distinguished Alumnus (1992), awarded the Penn State Wrestling
Club's Distinguished Alumnus Award (1993) and inducted into the Pennsylvania
Sports Hall of Fame (1994) and the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame (1993).
He was Head Physician for the 1992 U.S. Winter Olympic Team and serves as
Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine Committee. Dave also founded his
own Sports medicine Institute and serves as an orthopedic surgeon at three
Pennsylvania hospitals.
Dave was able to provide me with a great narrative of his quarter-final
match with my father, from the takedown to the escapes of the thrilling
bout. When the tournament started there
were eight full-sized mat surfaces on the floor of Cole Fieldhouse, at the quarter-finals
there was only four wrestling surfaces spread out over the floor of the massive
arena in front of a packed venue of 11,000 enthusiastic wrestling followers. The four mat surfaces gave the crowd an
intimate viewing of Dave and my father’s contest, Mr. Joyner said the crowd's applause was almost deafening at times.
I look forward to telling you more about this battle, but
you have to wait for the book!!!!
Dave Joyner - Penn State
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