. . . Koll was noted for his body-slam technique, but he doesn't take credit for being the one who caused that maneuver to be outlawed, as some claim.
"I would slam 'em down if I could," he said. "The year after I graduated, they took the slam out of wrestling.
"It was one of my favorite moves -- a perfectly legal tactic. It wasn't something that was dubious. It was in our repertoire.
"As a matter of fact, if I were wrestling today, I'd probably last about 30 seconds, because almost all of the stuff we used then is illegal now.
"Wing locks, double bar arms, the body slam ... those are some of the things we used that are illegal now. They were kind of painful, and helped make a person submit quicker."
Koll made the U.S. Olympic team for the 1948 Games at London, England, but does not have fond memories of that experience. The European brand of freestyle wrestling was foreign to him, and he wound up losing for the first time since his high school days, finishing in fifth place.
Koll's coaching career took him to the University of Chicago, Cornell College, back to Cedar Falls as McCuskey's replacement when McCuskey went to Iowa, and finally to Penn State for the last 21 years. . . .
