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Chris Taylor to HOF

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Clone83

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Mar 25, 2006
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Well deserved ...
Hailing from Dowagiac, Michigan, Taylor began wrestling as a junior in high school. He dropped only one match on his way to the 1967 state championship title at heavyweight. Taylor lost only one match his senior year, in the 1968 state finals.

Taylor continued wrestling at Muskegon Community College in Michigan, placing first at the junior college national tournament as a freshman and third as a sophomore. But it was his career at Iowa State that would turn Taylor into a national and international superstar. Noticed by Hall of Fame coach Harold Nichols, college wrestling's super heavyweight would take the wrestling world by storm.

His two year career as a Cyclone was nothing short of spectacular. Taylor won NCAA individual titles in 1972 and 1973, leading Iowa State to NCAA tournament crowns both seasons. The “Gentle Giantâ€￾ pinned his way through the NCAA tournament in 1973, becoming only the second wrestler to pin his way through a 32-man bracket. Taylor's overall career record at Iowa State was 87-0-1 with 70 pins. ...
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Chris Taylor Inducted Into Wrestling Hall Of Fame - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports

MPBOZTKLRGPAZHT.20111123212639.jpg
 
danwbarrett

danwbarrett

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Mar 29, 2006
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Re: Chris Taylor inducted into Wrestling Hall of Fame

I was a student when Chris Taylor wrestled. No one left the matches early because we had to see the likely pin of his opponent. There was only one scale on campus where he could be weighed -- the hook at the meat lab. I was in the ISU marching band when he was honored on Clyde Williams Field for his Olympic bronze medal along with our gold medalists Dan Gable and Chris Pederson.
 
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Clone83

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Mar 25, 2006
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Mods - could you please fix the thread title? I should have left it alone. Thanks.
 
Dryburn

Dryburn

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Apr 3, 2006
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I'm glad to see this, although honestly, I thought this had already happened. It's about time!

ISU teams were so good back then. There was a stretch there from 1969 to 1973 where ISU was the National Champion 4 out of 5 years, and finished 2nd the other year.

I was lucky enough to work at Hilton at the time Chris was here, and got to see every one of his home matches. They were classic.

Opponents would get in on one of Chris' legs, but they could not lift it. Chris would just stand there for a bit watching them. One time the opponent looked up at the ref, like....."what do I do"? and the ref just shrugged his shoulders.

Inevitably, Chris would get the guy down in a pin position and sometimes he would look over at the cheerleaders around the edge of the mat to get a thumbs up or thumbs down for the pin. Of course, it was never a thumbs up.

Chris was really great with the fans. He would hang around after the meets signing autographs and taking pictures. I remember once after most everyone else was gone, Chris was still there and this father came up with his 2 little kids. They were like maybe 2 or 3 years old. Anyway, Chris had the father put one kid in each of his palms, then he held them up that way for the picture. He made it look so easy!
 
Naughtius

Naughtius

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Oct 27, 2010
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My dad was in school when Chris wrestled. Acc. to my dad, CT would hang out by Lake LaVerne on weekend nights. As young men came back to Friley after dropping their dates off on the east side of campus, he'd ask them if they knew who he was.

If they knew him, he let them go. If they didn't, he'd toss them in the lake.

Knowing my dad, there's a 50% chance the story is BS. But it's funny if true.
 
nwiafan

nwiafan

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Dec 22, 2008
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To correct an earlier poster, Chris was actually the Bronze Medalist in 72. The pic I posted is how he lost in the Olympics. The legend goes that when walking through the Olympic village the German wrestler that is throwing Chris walked up and gave him a huge hug and none of the American wrestlers knew why. After the match the German told reporters he wanted to see if he could get his arms around him and knew that if he couldn't he wouldn't have been able to beat him!

My uncle was at ISU at the time of Taylor and Gable and talks about how Nichols used to match the two of them up because they beat up everyone else they wrestled. The matches would last forever without any points scored.
 
Wesley

Wesley

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Apr 12, 2006
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His neck was the size of 3 people. He was enormous. I could not see around him at one football game. His head blocked the view.
 
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Clone83

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Mar 25, 2006
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nwiafan said:
To correct an earlier poster, Chris was actually the Bronze Medalist in 72. The pic I posted is how he lost in the Olympics. The legend goes that when walking through the Olympic village the German wrestler that is throwing Chris walked up and gave him a huge hug and none of the American wrestlers knew why. After the match the German told reporters he wanted to see if he could get his arms around him and knew that if he couldn't he wouldn't have been able to beat him!

My uncle was at ISU at the time of Taylor and Gable and talks about how Nichols used to match the two of them up because they beat up everyone else they wrestled. The matches would last forever without any points scored.
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Great story about Taylor and Gable. That famous photo though is actually from Chris's Greco loss:
What Really Happened in 1972 Chris Taylor throw?

Taylor also wrestled freestyle, where he got the Bronze, and his loss there was a highly controversial one to the Soviet heavyweight:
Chris Taylor Biography and Olympic Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com

Weighing over 400 lbs., Chris Taylor is the heaviest American Olympian of all time. Despite his weight he was a very good technical wrestler, possessed of surprising quickness. This enabled him to twice win the NCAA Championship while at Iowa State, and he also won national titles in Greco-Roman wrestling. At the München Olympics he competed in both styles, losing in the Greco event. In freestyle, however, he was beaten only by the Soviet Union’s redoubtable heavyweight, Aleksandr Medved, but in a controversial decision. It appeared Medved was stalling but the referee awarded a point to the Soviet, charging Taylor with a lack of action. Later admitting that he felt sorry for Medved because of Taylor’s size, the referee was dismissed from the Olympic tournament and banned from international officiating.
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clonewell

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Apr 11, 2006
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Here is a good tid bit about the recruitment of Chris Taylor. When ISU was recruiting him Nick sent Tom Peckham who was helping coach at the time to go visit Chris and convince him to come to ISU to wrestle. Peckham visited with Chris about coming to ISU but Taylor wasn't quite sold on ISU. Taylor told Peckham that if they wrestled and Peckham took him down he would go to ISU. You know the result!!! Tom Peckham was one of the best to ever wrestle at ISU!
 
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Clone83

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Mar 25, 2006
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Clone83 said:
Well deserved ...


Chris Taylor Inducted Into Wrestling Hall Of Fame - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports

MPBOZTKLRGPAZHT.20111123212639.jpg
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To clarify, this photo is of Ben Peterson, Chris Taylor, and Dan Gable.

Ben Peterson and Gable both won gold in the 1972 Olympics, and Taylor, bronze - as noted above, losing in that freestyle match on a highly controversial call to the Soviet heavyweight.

Ben Peterson's brother, John, who attended the University of Wisconsin Stout, was also an Olympian in 1972. He won silver. At the 1976 Olympics, Ben and John wrestled again, with their positions switched, John taking the gold this time, and Ben, silver.
 
cyputz

cyputz

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Jul 26, 2006
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dtISU said:
He was a bouncer at Granddaddy's when I was in school. The man was a mountain!
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Granddaddys did not exist when Chris was at ISU, at the time it was The Store (Country), do not recall him being a bouncer there. But he was a bouncer at a bar on mainstreet called That Place.
Chris was a fantastic gentlemen, lot of stories, Chris and his wife played volleyball in the city league as well.
 
Cyfan4good

Cyfan4good

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Jul 7, 2009
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I have Chris's autograph on a program in a box somewhere. When I was a kid my Dad took me to a meet in Ames. I worked up enough nerve to walk down to the bench and ask Chris for his autograph. When I handed him a pen it literally disappeared in his hand. He was huge.
 
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Madclone1

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Oct 21, 2007
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Clone83 said:
To clarify, this photo is of Ben Peterson, Chris Taylor, and Dan Gable.

Ben Peterson and Gable both won gold in the 1972 Olympics, and Taylor, bronze - as noted above, losing in that freestyle match on a highly controversial call to the Soviet heavyweight.

Ben Peterson's brother, John, who attended the University of Wisconsin Stout, was also an Olympian in 1972. He won silver. At the 1976 Olympics, Ben and John wrestled again, with their positions switched, John taking the gold this time, and Ben, silver.
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It is great that Gable recognizes his fellow team mates for all their contributions to the sport of wrestling . . . . what a classy guy. :yes:
 
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