New book offers wrestling trivia & history

Friday, April 19th, 2013 | Books, Wrestling | No Comments

“How much do you know about Mankind’s Oldest Sport?”

That is the question posed on the cover of the new wrestling book written by the sport’s most prolific writer. Mike Chapman’s Super Book of Wrestling Trivia brings to the reader some of the most memorable events in the history of Mankind’s Oldest Sport.

“The three main goals of the book are to educate young people about the grand heritage of the sport and to entertain older readers with a nostalgic trip into the past,” said Chapman. “And to have a little fun along the way.”

Wrestling has been around for at least 5,000 years. The book has separate chapters on wrestling in antiquity, in early America, in the NCAAs, and international wrestling, including the Olympics. There are also sections on professional wrestling, wrestling as a part of mixed martial arts, wrestling in the military, and wrestling in pop culture.

The 176-page book features nearly 50 photos. Included are a classic sketch of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob wrestling the angel of the Lord, as described in the Bible in Genesis; photos of Kirk Douglas wrestling in the 1955 movie “Ulysses,” about the Greek hero during the time of the Trojan War, and Tom Cruise wrestling in the 1989 film “Born on the 4th of July.”

Read more and order today!

Tags: Ben Askren, Cael Sanderson, Jim Jordan, Pat Smith, Steve Fraser, Tom Brands, Trivia, Wrestling

Upcoming Speeches and Appearances

Sunday, February 10th, 2013 | Book Signing, Iowa History Journal, Speaking, WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments

February 20 — Mike will be talking to the Knoxville Rotary Club on Wednesday, February 20, at noon at the Swamp Fox Pub and Grille in Knoxville. His speech is about famous Iowans and Iowa History Journal.

March 21-23 – Mike and Bev will be appearing at the WIN Memorabilia Show between sessions of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines on March 21-23. Mike and Bev created the WIN show 23 years ago and they will be greeting wrestling fans and showing memorabilia, as well as selling books, posters and videos. Numerous Olympic champions will be the special guests and an estimated 10,000 wrestling fans are expected to attend the WIN show. It will be located inside of the NCAA Fan Festival in the HY-Vee Hall. There is no charge to attend the WIN show.

July 9 – Mike will be giving a speech on the life and legacy of Frank Gotch, former world heavyweight wrestling champion, on Tuesday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Joe Sheldon County Park in Humboldt. The talk is being sponsored by Project AWARE, which is a volunteer weeklong river cleanup. Each year, hundreds of Iowans join together for a week in canoes to remove trash from 80-90 miles of a different river. To date, more than 2,500 AWARE volunteers from across the state have cleaned up over 780 river miles, removing more than 250 tons of trash (70% of which has been recycled) from rivers all across Iowa. This year’s event will be held July 6-13 on the Des Moines River from Algona down through Humboldt and Fort Dodge.The event is open to the public.

Tags: knoxville rotary, WIN Memorabilia Show

Upcoming Schedule for Mike

Thursday, September 13th, 2012 | Iowa History Journal, Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

October 4 – Mike will be part of the program at the prestigious RaySociety, a community of lifelong learners from a variety of backgrounds who share a common interest in continuing to seek learning experiences and intellectual stimulation. The organization is supported by Drake University and named for two distinguish graduates, Robert D. and Billie Ray, the former governor and first lady of Iowa. Mike will be speaking at the “Extraordinary Iowans” discussion on Thursday at 1:30 pm in the Hall of Pride.

October 18 — Mike will be making a double appearance on this day in Charles City. In the afternoon, he will talk to a group of high school students about the great athletic tradition in the state of Iowa, concentrating on the legends of Nile Kinnick and Frank Gotch. That evening, he will be the guest speaker at the Floyd County Community Foundation (FCCF) banquet.

October 20 – For the second year in a row, Mike will be the guest speaker at the Alan and Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions event in Minneapolis. Each year, the hall of fame inducts outstanding Greco-Roman wrestlers into the hall of champions. Mike will give a talk on the importance of understanding the sport’s rich and vital heritage, dating all the way back to Jacob wrestling the Angel in the Bible. For details, people can call the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo.

November 18 – Steve Knight has invited Mike to be the guest speaker at the Excel Wrestling “Hall of Heroes” banquet at the Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. Several annual awards will be given out and Bill Smith, 1952 Olympic champion, will be the main honoree. Bill was also an undefeated, two-time NCAA champion during his career at Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI). Originally from Council Bluffs, Bill now lives in Bode, Iowa. The cost for dinner is $50 per plate. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Excel Wrestling office at 515-331-4419

Tags: Extraordinary Iowans, Flow County Community Foundation, Frank Gotch, Nile Kinnick, RaySociety

Gotch unveiling makes an ‘unforgettable’ event

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 | Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

According to Mac Davis, author of the 1954 book 100 Greatest Sports Heroes, when Frank Gotch died in 1917, “thousands of weeping mourners, gathered from many parts of the land, trudged the icy path to the little rural cemetery on a cold December day to bid a final farewell to the farm boy who had been the greatest wrestling champion in history.”

Some 95 years later, on July 4, some 400 fans endured brutally hot temperatures to see a magnificent statue of Gotch unveiled in his hometown of Humboldt, Iowa. The eight-foot tall bronze statue shows Gotch in black tights and top, with hands on hips, gazing out over the land. It stands on a three-foot pedestal in Bicknell Park, the very spot where Gotch trained for his epic match with George Hackenschmidt, The Russian Lion, in 1911.

The statue is surrounded by a brick walkway, with four thick benches at each of the corners. Behind the area, the Des Moines River flows peacefully, just thirty yards away and down a steep bluff – offering a very picturesque setting.

“It was a day that anyone who was there will never forget,” said Scott Casber, owner/founder of Takedown Wrestling Radio. “July 4, 2012, was a great moment in the history of wrestling.”

Continue reading…

Tags: Frank Gotch, Humboldt