Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 | Wrestling | No Comments

June 7 – Mike will be a special guest and exhibitor at a “catch” wrestling tournament held on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The event is being run by “catch” expert Raul Ramirez and is called the “Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth.” It will feature top competitors in the “catch” style from England and America, “Catch’ was the wrestling style popular in the early 1900s and a win can be claimed only by a submission or pin as there are no points awarded. Bouts 20 minutes. This event will be held Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA, at 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1612. More information is available at www.catchwrestlingalliance.com

Tags: Catch Wrestling Alliance, Raul Ramirez

2014 WIN Memorabilia Show

Tuesday, March 4th, 2014 | WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments

March 20-22 – For the 25th straight year Mike and Bev will be participating in the WIN Memorabilia Show during the NCAA Wrestling Championships, this time in Oklahoma City. The show features over 40 exhibitors and many Olympic and World wrestling champions. Mike’s special guests at his tables will be Dan Hodge, undefeated three-time NCAA champion and the man the Dan Hodge Trophy is named for, and Wayne Baughman, winner of 16 national titles and a member of three Olympic teams and eight World Games teams. Also with Mike and Bev will be Don Huff, co-author with Mike of the book SIDDENS, about legendary West Waterloo High School (Iowa) wrestling coach Bob Siddens. The WIN Show will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday between sessions – at the NCAA Fan Festival, in the Cox Convention Center. Among the special guests at the show will be Olympic champions Dan Gable, Bruce Baumgartner, and John and Ben Peterson, and many other top guests.

Tags: Ben Petersen, Bob Siddens, Bruce Baumgartner, Dan Gable, Dan Hodge, Don Huff, John Petersen, NCAA Wrestling Tournament, Wayne Baughman, WIN Memorabilia Show

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