City of Humboldt to honor Frank Gotch with a statue in park

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 | Wrestling | No Comments

HUMBOLDT, Iowa – The hometown of world wrestling champion Frank Gotch, one of the nation’s best-known athletes in the early part of the 20th Century, is making plans to honor its most famous citizen with a statue to be placed in Bicknell Park. The park occupies the site where Gotch trained for his most important match.

The project is being run by a not-for-profit organization called the Frank Gotch Statue Committee.

“Frank Gotch was arguably the top athlete in America in the 1908 to 1915 era,” said co-chair Steve Reimers, a lifelong resident of the city located in the northwestern part of the state. “Frank brought great recognition to this town and to all of Iowa. Many of us feel it is time to pay a special tribute to Gotch and the great legacy he left behind.”

Bicknell Park was the site of Gotch’s training camp prior to his epic match with George Hackenschmidt, known as The Russian Lion, on September 3, 1911, in Chicago. Gotch set up camp by the small bluff on the Des Moines River and spectators flocked to watch the world champion in training. Sports reporters from around the nation converged on Humboldt the month prior to the match. One reporter estimated that one day there were nearly 2,000 fans down by the park watching Gotch train.

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Tags: Bicknell Park, Frank Gotch, Humboldt

Mike’s May Schedule

Monday, May 9th, 2011 | Book Signing, Radio, Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

Mike Chapman has a heavy schedule of appearances in May.

May 9 – 4:30 pm, taping of The Culture Buzz show at KFMG studio, in Des Moines. Will be played May 18th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Listen live here or listen to the archived show here, when it goes online.

May 16 – Speaking at the Noon Rotary in Waterloo, at the Five Sullivan Center. Mike will be talking about his book Triumph and Tragedy: The Inspiring Stories of Football Legends Fred Becker, Jack Trice, Nile Kinnick and Johnny Bright. Fred Becker is a 1914 graduate of East High who became Iowa’s very first All-American football player in 1916, then died fighting in World War I. The newest Waterloo school will be named Fred H. Becker Elementary School.

May 17 – For the third straight year, Mike will be presenting a workshop for young writers at a Waterloo school. The event is coordinated by Donna Huff, wife of Don Huff, with whom Mike co-wrote the book SIDDENS! The purpose of the workshop is to inspire young students to get excited about history and writing.

May 19 — Mike will be one of the special guests at the Frank Gotch Statue Celebration (5-9 p.m.) and the Rustix Restaurant in Humboldt. A committee was formed six months ago with the goal of raising money for an 8-foot bronze statue of Frank to be placed at Bicknell Park in Humboldt. Gotch was world heavyweight wrestling champion from 1908 to 1915 and arguably the most popular athlete in America. Also in attendance will be Tom Brands, 1996 Olympic champion, three-time NCAA champion and head coach at Iowa; Bill Smith, 1952 Olympic champion and two-time NCAA champion at UNI; Jim Raschke, who was a big star in professional wrestling in the 1970s as Baron Von Raschke and was a national champion as an amateur AAU wrestler; Brad Rheingans, who won 8 national championships and made two Olympic teams as an amateur before becoming a professional star; Bob Steenlage, Iowa’s first four-time state champion (from Britt) and an All-American at West Point, also the subject of the popular book Fighting Back; and Bruce Reimers, a native of Humboldt who played 10 years in the National Football League and was in a Super Bowl with the Cincinnati Bengals; there will also be a silent auction.

May 24 — Mike will journey to Dixon, Illinois, the hometown of Ronald Reagan, to present a program about his historical novel, Lowell Park, and to discuss his writing career. Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard at beautiful Lowell Park for seven straight summers, and Abe Lincoln served in the Illinois militia in the same spot 100 years earlier. The book combines those two facts. It has been sold to a Hollywood movie company and is in pre-production. The talk will take place at the Dixon Library from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and is open to the public. He will hold a book signing afterwards, with many of his 22 books available.

More information here: Dixon Public Library

May 27-28 – In Minneapolis, Mike will be one of several guests at the annual Edgar Rice Burroughs gathering called ECOF. Burroughs created Tarzan and many other great fictional characters. The gathering is open to the public and will feature tons of Tarzan and Burroughs related material, science fiction books, artwork, etc. There will be other authors and a famous comic artist, Mike Grell. It will be held at the Bloomington Airport Holiday Inn, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m both days. Mike has hosted three national Tarzan conventions in the past and has written books about Tarzan actors Herman Brix (aka Bruce Bennett) and Glenn Morris. He will have most of his 22 books for sale. The event is open to the public with no charge.

More information here: ECOF 2011 Flyer

Tags: Bob Siddens, Culture Buzz, Lowell Park, Tarzan, Triumph and Tragedy

Mike Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Monday, January 10th, 2011 | Awards, Wrestling | No Comments

On January 1, 2011, Missouri Wrestling Revival announced that Mike is the recipient of its 2011 Award for Lifetime Achievement for professional wrestling. Here is a little bit of what the web site had to say about the honor:

“Mike has represented the Midwest and the wrestling world with class and honor by promoting the sport as a public speaker, an author of 21 books (14 about wrestling), the creation of a great wrestling museum, and his work has appeared in dozens of national and regional magazines.”

It is the fifth such “Lifetime Achievement” type award for Mike, the others being:

• Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC) Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001;
• The Burroughs Bibliophiles Award in appreciation of work for perpetuating the memory of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his works, 2004;*
• National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Order of Merit for lifetime achievement, 2007;
• The President’s Award from the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, for contributions to high school wrestling in the state of Iowa, 2007.

* Edgar Rice Burroughs was the creator of Tarzan and John Carter, Warlord of Mars.

Bob Siddens Book Signing

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 | Book Signing, Wrestling | No Comments

Bob Siddens, Don Huff and Mike Chapman will be at an author’s table during the National Duals in Cedar Falls this weekend, signing copies of the new book, SIDDENS! Win With Humility, Lose With Dignity… But Don’t Lose!”, co-authored by Don and Mike. Mike will also have several of his other books at the table. Please stop by to meet Bob, Don and Mike!

Tags: Bob Siddens, National Duals