There are places every wrestling fan must make a point of visiting at some time in their life. One of those is the new Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. The new, 21,000-square-foot facility opens Jan. 12.
In addition, Kyle Klingman, associate director of the museum, is now hosting a new weekly radio show broadcast from the museum from 6 to 7 p.m. Central time every Wednesday, available on 1650 AM in Iowa and nationwide at www.kcnzam.com
For more information on the museum go to www.wrestlingmuseum.org or call 319.233.0745.
By Andrew Berglund “TWM Freelance Writer
As you enter the lobby of the new Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, your eyes will immediately be captivated by a 10×20 foot mural of arguably our nation’s greatest leader, Abraham Lincoln, in a wrestling match. As you round the corner, your focus will shift to a near life-size depiction of Jacob in a fist clench, wrestling the angel of the Lord. As you inch forward, your imagination will continue to deepen as you read quotes from Homer and Achilles about the sport whose heroic figures and stories of triumph date back 5,000 years.
To hear Mike Chapman, executive director and founder of the museum, echo the names of mythical Greek figures to Abraham Lincoln to Norman Schwarzkopf while talking wrestling history, a great sense of cultural amazement and bewilderment sets in. That’s before even setting foot in the museum”before seeing the uniform Alexander Karelin wore and some of his first medals sent from Russia, to the wrestling memorabilia sent by Nancy Schultz from her husband Dave Schultz, to the dedication walls of Dan Gable, John Smith and Cael Sanderson.
After over eight years of existence in Newton, Iowa, the new 21,000-square-foot facility will re-open its doors in Waterloo on January 12, 2007 in conjunction with the January 13-14 National Duals taking place at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. The new facility will be renamed the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in honor of the state’s greatest sporting legend.
The National Duals welcomes over 70 collegiate teams and an estimated 15,000 fans to the event, which is a perfect opportunity for wrestling enthusiasts to experience world grappling history in a state renown for wrestling excellence from A-Z: from Les Anderson and Royce Alger to Jim Zalesky and the Zadick brothers.
Chapman, who was born and raised in Waterloo, knows the significance of a museum of this magnitude has no boundaries. “Our mission statement is to preserve the history of wrestling in a manner that educates and entertains the public and inspires young people to dream big and work hard in any endeavor they so choose,” Chapman said.
“We just happen to use wrestling as a way to motivate wrestling and keep alive a very important part of world cultural history. It also becomes a great promotional tool for the sport of wrestling.”
The mural of Lincoln wrestling at age 23 in New Salem, Illinois is as powerful a piece of artwork that you can find on any sport – a motivational tool that traces back the significance of the sport. It’s also an aspect of his life that not many people know about.
“There’s been 10,000 books written about Lincoln, more than any other person in history,” Chapman said. “And a lot of biographers are saying, that it was his wrestling match with Jack Armstrong in 1831 that turned his life around. It was the first time he was able to challenge himself and succeed.”
“I think wrestling, as a whole, hasn’t taken enough advantage of that fact that the man that saved the Union and who many consider to be the greatest president in United States history – was a wrestler.”
Chapman still finds it hard to believe that his original idea for the museum has blossomed into a state-of-the art facility that houses four Hall of Fames and its own Dan Gable Training Center. After creating WIN magazine in 1993, Chapman thought it would be nice to have some wrestling memorabilia at the entrance of the office for workers to look at as they passed by.
“My original concept was to buy a little store in downtown, quiet Newton and have WIN magazine offices there and have the whole front part a small wrestling museum,” he said. “That’s all, nothing ever bigger than that.”
But a visit from wresting giant Lou Thesz, who for nearly four decades starting in the 1930’s, was one of the biggest names in all of professional sports, helped change of that. “He was visiting (my wife) Bev and I and we were going to have pictures of him up on display,” Chapman said of Thesz, who he calls probably the greatest pro wrestling figure over the past 80 years after Frank Gotch. “We saw a building sitting empty out on the interstate, owned by Bruce Kinseth, a former NCAA wrestling champion at Iowa.”
“The next thing I know, nine million cars are driving by that building on the interstate and all of the sudden we decide to see if we can get a hold of the building, which led to starting a not-for-profit and getting a board of directors,” Chapman said. “The whole thing just snowballed.”
“The next thing you know, we’re running a full scale museum, I’m operating a newspaper full time, and writing books on the side and about ready to have a nervous breakdown,” Chapman laughs.
Chapman was faced with a career decision. As the museum grew, his hours during the day disappeared. “It got so big, I was faced with a decision to leave the newspaper world,” he said. “My wife and I decided that it was important to wrestling to have this type of vehicle. So I walked away from an extremely well paying job at a full time newspaper with 66 fulltime employees and about 100 part-time employees to a wrestling museum with 3 employees.”
After about nine years of existence in Newton, a town of about 19,000, it was time for a change and a number of cities came calling”from Chicago to Des Moines to Waterloo and Cedar Falls. With the larger population and the incredible wrestling backgrounds in those areas, (37 team titles have been won by six area Iowa schools and Cedar Falls has hosted the NCAA’s twice), the museum was welcomed with open arms in Waterloo by mayor Tim Hurley and 303 Jefferson Street in downtown Waterloo, one block from where Frank Gotch defended his world title in 1909, has become home.
Waterloo is also the hometown of Gable, and Chapman approached him with discussions about naming the museum after him. “Dan’s been a friend for 35 years, and when we sat down and told him what our vision was, he said, ‘I am not sure I want a museum named after me; I’m not sure that is appropriate,” Chapman recalls. “In all honesty, we had to twist his arm. He’s a humble guy. But when we told him how much the Waterloo community wanted it and how good it would be for wrestling, we got him on board.”
A magnificent glass etching of Gable welcomes visitors upon entering into the lobby area.
The fundraising drive and the vision for the museum really took wings when another Waterloo native son jumped on board. Kirk Gross Company, owned and operated by Bob Buckley, a former West Waterloo High School wrestler, donated over $50,000 in services to the project. MaGee Construction Company of Waterloo is the general contractor and also donated considerable time and effort.
Buckley headed up the fundraising effort. The goal was $1.3 million and it was reached in November, said Buckley. Over $700,000 was allocated for the renovation of the building.
“I guarantee you,” Chapman said, “When you walk into the building, it’s going to blow your socks off.”
“This is great opportunity for the sport of wrestling to get behind this project and show their support,” said Jed Brown, president of the board of directors for the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum. “This museum is something that the entire wrestling community can be proud of.”
In addition to the amateur and pro wrestling exhibits and the Dan Gable Training Center, the new wrestling museum will house the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Hall of Fame, the Alan & Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Fame, the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa, an Olympic Pavilion, the Dean Rockwell library, as well as a new and improved gift shop, library, and video room.
The video room has the oldest professional wrestling championship match in existence, a tape that goes back to 1920. The match features two young farm kids, Joe Stecher and Earl Caddock wrestling in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.
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