State standouts join wrestling hall of fame

Creston wrestling fans were treated to a cross section of Panther wrestling history in a series of new inductions and presentations of teams from the past at the sixth annual Creston Wrestling Hall of Fame banquet Saturday night at Creston Eagles Club.

Honored were two-time state champion (1975-76) and former assistant coach Dennis “Smitty” Smith; undefeated state champion (1983) and two-time state semifinalist Roger Baker; and the five Abel brothers, one of the first Creston brother combinations and owners of eight state appearances and five state medals from the mid-1960s through 1979.

Also recognized were the 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012 teams. The 1961-62 team was Creston’s first wrestling squad. Four team members attended Saturday — Larry Swanson, Doug Minnick, Steve Tilley and Steve Jones.

Also introduced were this year’s recipients of $300 scholarships from the Hall of Fame Committee to those who spent four years in the high school program. It can be used for any type of postsecondary training.

Creston Community High School coaches Cody Downing of the boys team and Jacob Lister of the Highway 34 girls team presented a report on the current school and youth programs.

“This event is as much about getting together to celebrate Creston wrestling as much as the honorees we’re recognizing each year,” said Dannie Stephens, chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee.

Honored teams

Teams from years ending in “2″ were recognized separately from the Hall of Fame inductions of Smith, Baker and the Abels. Stephens and local wrestling historian John Walters devoted much of that time to honor the first season of Panther wrestling in 1961-62.

Stephens noted that basketball was king in Creston that year, as the Creston Panthers won the Hawkeye Eight boys basketball title and was ranked No. 1 in southwest Iowa by the Omaha World-Herald much of that 12-0 regular season. Larry Goodrich set a new career scoring record of 909 points that broke Ron Jessen’s 895 set the prior year. The Creston Junior College Golden Bears men’s team qualified for the NJCAA national basketball tournament.

Girls athletics would not begin in Creston for 11 more years. But the campaign to establish wrestling was approved, with a squad of 69 reporting for the first practices held on one mat in the old Irving Elementary School gym. The team had a 5-4 dual record under coach BIll Lewis and assistant Rollin Dyer.

Creston was one of the 32 largest schools in Iowa with wrestling in a two-class system, so the Panthers were placed in a Class A district at Bloomfield after facing mostly Class B schools during the season. Larry Swanson placed third in that district and Ron Claypool was fourth. Other top varsity scorers during that inaugural season were Charlie White, Doug Stream, Doug Minnick, Mike McClurg and Monty Lang.

Former Creston head coach Rich Downing, father of current head coach Cody Downing, was a sophomore on that first team.

Jerome Hruska, who attended Saturday’s event, was coach of the 1971-72 team recognized Saturday, as well as coach with Downing as his assistant during Smith’s career. The 1972 team started the string of qualifying at least one competitor for the state tournament every year. That streak hasn’t been broken in 51 years.

The Panthers placed sixth in the 1972 state tournament with seven qualifiers and five medalists in Steve Harvey (second), Curtis Bolinger (third), Mike King (third), Jeff Abel (fifth) and Kim Kirkman (sixth). Other qualifiers were Dan Hayes and Vern Loudon.

Stephens was head coach of the 1981-82 team that sent two wrestlers to state — Roger Baker and Lanny Goetz. (Both would become co-valedictorians the next year.) Baker placed sixth as a junior that year, leading into his undefeated championship season in 1983.

Walters was head coach of the 1991-92 team, assisted by Stephens and Craig Taylor. The Panthers went 8-8 in duals, fourth in the Hawkeye Eight and sent Jason Kinsella and Tim Foglesong to state. Kinsella was awarded the Mike Abel Outstanding Wrestler Award.

The 2001-02 team was coached by Darrell Frain. Current coach Cody Downing was one of the seniors on that team that defeated Clarke 58-8 in a regional dual to earn the school’s first trip to the State Dual Meet Tournament. The Panthers lost to Winterset 34-22 at state duals, finishing with a 20-5 dual record with three losses to the Huskies.

Chris Loudon placed third at state in 2002 and Boone Hayes was fifth. John Foster and Blair Taylor also went to state and Taylor earned the Mike Abel Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Frain also coached the 2011-12 team that placed fourth at both the traditional state tournament and state duals. State champions from that squad were Jake Marlin and Collin Bevins, while Keaton Hulett was a runner-up. Juwan Parrish placed fifth and Trevor Frain one won match at state. Zac Goodrich and David Thompson were additional state qualifiers. Bevins had 54 wins and 47 falls, while Marlin had 52 wins and 40 pins. Hulett finished with 51 wins. Bevins was selected to wrestle for Iowa against Wrestling USA’s Dream Team Classic at Iowa City West High School and won his match.

Inductees

Stephens and Walters both spoke during the induction of the Abel brothers — Denny, Doug, Mike, Jeff and Chuck.

“A big part of this event is celebrating the families of wrestling in Creston, and sets of brothers have always been a big part of wrestling,” Stephens said.

Stephens noted how Denny Abel has held leadership positions in VFW organizations for three decades, as well as many other local service projects. He was a two-year varsity wrestler and made the finals of the prestigious Corning Tournament.

Doug was behind Denny in school and became a three-time state qualifier, finishing with 72 wins which was then a school record. Mike Abel placed sixth his junior year and was considered a title contender as a senior in 1974 before he was killed in a toboggan accident during the season.

Jeff Abel became southwest Iowa’s first four-time placewinner, including two third-place finishes. He wrestled at Iowa Central Community College.

Chuck Abel had a promising freshman year, finishing third at district and only a 3-2 loss from taking second and advancing to state. He was hampered by a motorcycle accident after that season, but continued to wrestle for the Panthers.

Sisters Diane and Debbie joined brothers Denny and Jeff Abel in the induction ceremony, and Diane noted the sacrifices made by parents Kenneth and Darlene Abel to help their children work toward success.

Smith was a two-time state champion with a 30-1 record his senior season. He also helped the Panthers gain their first team trophy in school history. He qualified for the national tournament as a wrestler at Southwestern Community College. After joining the U.S. Army he became a wrestler on the All-Army team. After returning to Creston he assisted head coach Rich Downing for seven years in the 1990s.

Smith credited coach Jerome Hruska and his practice partners before pausing in a moment of emotion as he thanked the Creston wrestling community for so many memories as a competitor and coach.

In introducing Baker, Stephens said his career is an example of the rewards of perseverance and dedication.

“Roger showed that you can make yourself a really good wrestler, and he was valedictorian on top of that,” Stephens said, noting that Baker had a sub-.500 record as a sophomore before two outstanding seasons as a junior and senior. He went undefeated from the early-season Eagle Grove Tournament until the state semifinals as a junior, when he placed sixth at state, and then had an undefeated championship season as a senior.

In his acceptance speech, Baker acknowledged that he put in a lot of extra time beyond practices, but he could not have done it without dedicated practice partners.

Scholarship winners

Recipients of $300 scholars

hips for postsecondary education and training for 2022 are Hayden Green, Keaton Street, Jackson Kinsella, Garon Wurster, Kaden Bolton, Adam McElwain, Justin Parsons, Briley Hayes, Triston Barncastle, Chris Wilson, Chris Wells and Macy Wiley.

In his report on the current wrestling program in Creston, coach Cody Downing said last year’s high school team had 39 participants, the middle school team had more than 20 members and there were 105 enrolled in the Express Wrestling youth club.

“We were 19-1 in duals and won the Hawkeye Ten duals title and we were disappointed in how the season ended,” Downing said. “If that’s a disappointing year, your program is in a good spot. Practice starts Monday and our expectations are high again.”

Jacob Lister is coach of the new girls Highway 34 team involving Creston, East Union and Lenox. He said there are 12 to 15 high school girls participating from Creston with hopes of expanding that number.