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Borlaug and Macias to be inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame
April 5, 2004
By Don Henry
Two Iowans with Minnesota ties are about to be inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame on April 12 -- former Gopher wrestler and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug and then-Mankato State College Coach Rummy Macias. Borlaug is a native of Cresco; Macias is from Davenport.
The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame is located in Cresco, a small northeast-Iowa town with a population of less than 4,000 people but a long and rich tradition of amateur wrestling.
Macias, longtime Mankato State University coach, produced over 100 All-Americans, several National Champions, three NAIA and NCAA Small College National Wrestling Team Champions and tutored many outstanding Minnesota high school coaches throughout the years.
Borlaug will join 10 other Cresco natives already in the Hall, several of whom were national champions at schools which included then-Iowa State Teachers College, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Two were MVPs of NCAA tournaments. Two others were Olympians. Still another two were coaches at Iowa and Iowa State Universities respectively, and at the same time for several years.
Adopted Cresco native-son Dave Bartelma, after coaching Cresco to two state titles in the early 1930s, went on to coach successfully for 20 years at the University of Minnesota. He is also credited with being the father of high school wrestling in Minnesota, for introducing and growing the sport.
Borlaug had wrestled for Bartelma at Cresco and was a state tournament participant. After becoming a student-athlete at Minnesota, he in turn helped 'recruit' Bartelma to become his coach at the University. A Big Ten finalist as a competitor there, Borlaug also joined Bartelma and other Gopher teammates in those pioneering efforts to start wrestling programs in Minnesota high schools.
Dale Hanson then followed Bartelma to the U of M from Cresco and became a national champion and tournament MVP in 1939. Many years later, Joe Frank -- who himself was mentored in high school and at Iowa State by other inductees from Cresco -- coached Fridley High School to three Minnesota state championships from 1968-84. Prior to that, Frank had also led an Oregon high school team to three state championships.
More evidence of this small town's remarkable wrestling heritage is the accumulation of team and, particularly, individual state championships in high school competition. With 63 individual championships won, it is second in Iowa to only much larger West Waterloo, high school of the legendary Dan Gable. (2003 IHSAA statistics)
Correspondingly, Cresco is second only to Waterloo in the number of individuals inducted into the state's high school wrestling hall of fame. And other former Cresco wrestlers, some of whom are already in the more selective Iowa Hall of Fame, would be very strong candidates for induction if nominated.
Two of those who have been inducted are in a select group of only 56 competitors to win three state championships during the 78 years in which thousands of wrestlers have participated in the tournament. Another is one of only 30 to have won their way into state championship final matches four times. (IHSAA)
Further attesting to the caliber of these athletes is the fact that dozens of them have gone on to earn scholarships on college teams. And several Cresco wrestlers who, like Norman Borlaug, never won championships in high school also wrestled in college, and some earned scholarships. Many more had the ability to do so, had they been inclined to go the college route.
The banquet social hour begins at 6:00 pm at "Scooters" supper club south of Cresco on Vernon Road (by the golf course). Dinner will be served at 7:00, and they intend to be finished with the program by 9:00. The Hall itself (located in the Chamber of Commerce building at intersection of Hwy. 9 and Elm St.) is open to visit at about 4:00. Inductees will most likely be there. To reserve banquet tickets, call 563/547-2382 and speak with Cindy at this insurance office number.
Cresco, about 60 miles south and east from Rochester, MN, is a 2 1/2 to 3-hour drive from the central Twin Cities. Take Hwy. 63 south out of Rochester to Hwy 9, about 10 miles south of the IA-MN border. Go east on Hwy. 9, and Cresco is about 9 miles. If you were to go directly to the supper club turn south on Vernon Road about one mile before reaching Cresco. It's about two miles to the club.