By Kyle Klingman, W.I.N. Columnist
For the second year in a row the National Wrestling Coaches Association is hosting the Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 13-14, 2007. The University of Northern Iowa will also be home site to the National Duals in 2008 and 2009 and the NWCA is considering making UNI the permanent home for this prestigious event.
Unfortunately, the 15,000 wrestling fans expected to attend the event in the UNI-Dome, will be unable to experience the tradition of Panther wrestling. Why? Because UNI has done nothing to promote or portray the people and places that made the program one of the best in the country.
Throughout the history of college wrestling, perhaps no administration has cared less about taking action for its wrestling program than the University of Northern Iowa. Given the tradition that UNI wrestling has, the recognition they get from the university is awful.
Make no mistake; I love Northern Iowa wrestling. I grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, graduated from UNI, and attend every meet possible. Panther wrestling has been an important part of my wrestling journey.
But some injustices have taken place and the time for letting the blatantly obvious slap everyone in the face is over. UNI wrestling has been slighted and now it’s my turn to take action.
Just so everyone is up to speed, here is a brief overview of what Northern Iowa wrestling teams have accomplished since their first dual meet in 1925:
• In 1950 Northern Iowa (known then as Iowa State Teachers College) won the NCAA team wrestling championship at the West Gym on their home campus. It remains the only Division I title the university has ever won. UNI is also one of only 10 college wrestling programs to win a Division I team title since the first NCAA tournament in 1928.
• In 1946, 1947, 1949 and 1952 UNI finished second in the nation. The Panthers finished in the top ten on 14 other occasions.
• UNI has won 21 consecutive NCAA West Regional titles.
• UNI has captured two NCAA Division II titles (in 1975 and 1978) and placed second on four other occasions.
• 13 UNI wrestlers have won a total of 21 individual NCAA Division I titles and 15 wrestlers have won 22 Division II titles.
• Nine former Panther wrestlers are in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the highest honor a wrestler can receive.
• Bill Koll (36-0), Keith Young (43-0) and Bill Smith (52-0-2) went undefeated for their UNI careers.
• Koll, Bill Nelson and Young were three-time NCAA champions.
• Maynard Harmon, Gerald Leeman, Nelson, Koll and Smith all made an Olympic team. No Panther athletes have made an Olympic team in any other sport.
• At the 1952 Olympics, Smith won an Olympic gold medal. It remains the only gold medal ever won by a Northern Iowa athlete.
• Two of the greatest high school wrestling coaches of all time — Bob Siddens and Bill Weick — attended Northern Iowa.
All things considered, wrestling is far and away the most successful sport’s program that Northern Iowa has.
The West Gym, where the wrestling team traditionally competes and currently trains, has also served as the arena for women’s volleyball and women’s basketball. This facility is a shrine to women’s volleyball and deservedly so. Their teams have done exceptionally well and earned every bit of recognition they receive.
Upon entering the West Gym there is a huge volleyball montage and large volleyball banner. In the hallway there are nine trophy display cases for volleyball and three near life-sized pictures of volleyball teams that went to the NCAA tournament and made it to the sweet 16.
In the actual gym, there are two massive white volleyball banners and three purple banners indicating conference and national honors. There is also a banner for the UNI women’s basketball team indicating that it went to the preseason NIT tournament once and the NIT tournament twice.
Here is what the wrestling team has for recognition in the West Gym: Zero display cases with trophies (there is currently one that is empty), zero banners in the gym, no pictures of the 13 NCAA division I champions of a prominent nature and nothing honoring past Olympians.
Current head coach Brad Penrith has coached at Northern Iowa for six years and placed in the top 16 at the NCAA tournament on three occasions. Where are his near life-sized team pictures?
There are a few pictures for wrestling though. In the wrestling hallway there is a sloppy array of pictures for wrestling All-Americans that looks like a kindergarten art project. Pictures are missing (including Wartburg head coach Jim Miller, top wrestling official Keith Poolman and Northern Illinois head coach Dave Grant) and no All-Americans have been updated since Tony Wieland placed eighth in 1996 (his picture is missing too).
Some attempts are worse than apathy.
As of Jan. 1, 2007, there is no banner anywhere on campus honoring the 1950 NCAA team title, the 1950 NCAA championship trophy is nowhere on display, and there is no picture of the 1950 NCAA championship team on display. This is a slight of the highest order.
“They haven’t put any emphasis on the 1950 NCAA tournament team,” said Nelson, a three-time NCAA champion for State Teachers College. “It’s the only NCAA title they’ve won and nothing is mentioned in any of their publications or anywhere on campus.
“I don’t feel the closeness to Northern Iowa because they haven’t done anything to enhance my feelings for the university. All of us have been slighted. These are Division I NCAA champions we’re talking about. Because of the way we’ve been treated by the administration over the years, my feelings for UNI aren’t what they should be.”
To be fair, UNI recently built the McLeod Center; a beautiful new facility that will host most of Northern Iowa’s sporting events, including wrestling. Display cases for all the sports are underway and wrestling is scheduled for a prominent exhibit. According to UNI athletic director Rick Hartzell, the university did not go ahead with plans for any projects to honor wrestling at the West Gym because the new facility was on the way.
However, wrestling was not included in any plans to move its offices or wrestling room to the new facility. Men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball will all have new offices at the McLeod Center but wrestling will remain at the West Gym. And the fact still remains that the school’s most successful program has been overlooked for over 50 years and there are hard feelings by several of the past wrestlers.
Then there is Bill Smith. Why isn’t there a major display for the only Olympic champion in Northern Iowa history?
“What I want people to understand is that I don’t feel slighted because of me personally,” said Smith. “I feel that way because of the titles that have been won by the people that did it. It seems like UNI has not honored the people that did something that we think is phenomenal for the small school that it was. This is something people can look up to. That’s what’s missing about the whole thing.
“Let’s say I made a lot of money in my lifetime and I wanted to donate money to my old alma mater. Under these circumstances I probably wouldn’t do it because of what has not happened with honoring the old-timers and the accomplishments they made.”
Winning an Olympic gold medal is the highest achievement in the entire world of amateur athletics. One could draw the comparison between Smith winning an Olympic gold medal for UNI and Nile Kinnick winning the Heisman Trophy for Iowa. The Hawkeyes have named a stadium after Kinnick, created a huge statue of him in front of the stadium and had his trophy on display for decades.
UNI, by comparison, has done nothing for Smith.
Fortunately, someone is stepping up to help. Renowned wrestling announcer Sandy Stevens, a Northern Iowa graduate, is among those who have been frustrated by the lack of support for the wrestling program. She began her own “Pledges for Pins” campaign where anyone can contribute from a $1 per pin on up. This money will be used to expand the wrestling room and upgrade the team’s facilities. Anyone interested in contributing can contact Penrith at the UNI wrestling office.
Northern Iowa is certainly one of several wrestling programs that get short changed. We all care about wrestling, but do we care enough to take action?

(Kyle Klingman is the associate director of the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum, located in Newton, Iowa. He can be reached via email, kyleklingman@yahoo.com.) n