Upcoming Events – May and June 2024

Monday, April 15th, 2024 | Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

May 9 – Ben Peterson, two-time Olympic wrestling medalist (gold in 1972 and silver in 1976) and also a two-time NCAA champion for Iowa State, will be the featured speaker at the “Voices of Inspiration” program sponsored by the United Way of Jasper County. Ben is a terrific speaker with a powerful message about his Christian faith and lifestyle, and the value of sports in general. He will have his book “Road to Gold” on sale. Mike wrote the introduction for the book and will introduce Ben. The event will take place at the DMACC Auditorium in Newton, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free, and donations are welcome.

May 16 – Mike will be a speaker at the same event a week later and at the same place and time. He will talk about his book-writing career and offer stories about the many fascinating people he has met during his 40-year journalism career – including Ronald Reagan, Muhammad Ali, Robert Redford and many other stars of film and sports. Mike has appeared in nine documentaries, over 100 radio talk shows, and has been featured on ESPN, Fox Sports, the A&E Network, Iowa Public Television and the popular morning show, Fox and Friends. He has written 32 books and will have some of them for sale. Admission is free.

June 12 – The Jasper County Musuem in Newton holds a “Brown Bag Lunch” monthly to attract people to the beautiful facility and Mike will be the guest speaker there on June 12, beginning at 11:30 am. He will talk about his many experiences in journalism and have a few of his 32 books for sale. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

June 22 – Martin “Farmer” Burns is one of the most influential figures in the history of Iowa sports and on this date a memorial plaque in his honor will be unveiled in the tiny berg of Big Rock, Iowa, where he was born and raised, and Mike will be a featured speaker at the event. Farmer Burns was a world champion in professional wrestling in the early 1900s, and had over 6,000 matches, losing just six. He helped coach the first-ever high school state championship team in 1921, and also trained Humboldt’s Frank Gotch, the greatest wrestler in history. Mike has written extensively about Farmer Burns and was asked by Wes Fox, a longtime Burns fan, to help with the project. It will take place at 4 p.m. in Big Rock, about 50 miles east of Cedar Rapids, and is free to the public. Several Farmer Burns historic items will be on display.

Tags: Ben Petersen, Big Rock, Farmer Burns, Frank Gotch, Jasper County Museum

Talking about Frank Gotch

Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 | Wrestling | No Comments

Brian Solomon, a well-respected author and historian, has one of the top podcasts in professional wrestling (Shut Up and Wrestle) and recently had Mike on for a long interview, talking about the early days of Frank Gotch and other pioneers of the sport. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here:

Episode 52- Mike Chapman – Shut Up And Wrestle with Brian Solomonsuawpod.com

Tags: Frank Gotch, Shut Up and Wrestle

Upcoming Schedule for Mike

Thursday, September 13th, 2012 | Iowa History Journal, Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

October 4 – Mike will be part of the program at the prestigious RaySociety, a community of lifelong learners from a variety of backgrounds who share a common interest in continuing to seek learning experiences and intellectual stimulation. The organization is supported by Drake University and named for two distinguish graduates, Robert D. and Billie Ray, the former governor and first lady of Iowa. Mike will be speaking at the “Extraordinary Iowans” discussion on Thursday at 1:30 pm in the Hall of Pride.

October 18 — Mike will be making a double appearance on this day in Charles City. In the afternoon, he will talk to a group of high school students about the great athletic tradition in the state of Iowa, concentrating on the legends of Nile Kinnick and Frank Gotch. That evening, he will be the guest speaker at the Floyd County Community Foundation (FCCF) banquet.

October 20 – For the second year in a row, Mike will be the guest speaker at the Alan and Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions event in Minneapolis. Each year, the hall of fame inducts outstanding Greco-Roman wrestlers into the hall of champions. Mike will give a talk on the importance of understanding the sport’s rich and vital heritage, dating all the way back to Jacob wrestling the Angel in the Bible. For details, people can call the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo.

November 18 – Steve Knight has invited Mike to be the guest speaker at the Excel Wrestling “Hall of Heroes” banquet at the Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. Several annual awards will be given out and Bill Smith, 1952 Olympic champion, will be the main honoree. Bill was also an undefeated, two-time NCAA champion during his career at Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI). Originally from Council Bluffs, Bill now lives in Bode, Iowa. The cost for dinner is $50 per plate. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Excel Wrestling office at 515-331-4419

Tags: Extraordinary Iowans, Flow County Community Foundation, Frank Gotch, Nile Kinnick, RaySociety

Gotch unveiling makes an ‘unforgettable’ event

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 | Speaking, Wrestling | No Comments

According to Mac Davis, author of the 1954 book 100 Greatest Sports Heroes, when Frank Gotch died in 1917, “thousands of weeping mourners, gathered from many parts of the land, trudged the icy path to the little rural cemetery on a cold December day to bid a final farewell to the farm boy who had been the greatest wrestling champion in history.”

Some 95 years later, on July 4, some 400 fans endured brutally hot temperatures to see a magnificent statue of Gotch unveiled in his hometown of Humboldt, Iowa. The eight-foot tall bronze statue shows Gotch in black tights and top, with hands on hips, gazing out over the land. It stands on a three-foot pedestal in Bicknell Park, the very spot where Gotch trained for his epic match with George Hackenschmidt, The Russian Lion, in 1911.

The statue is surrounded by a brick walkway, with four thick benches at each of the corners. Behind the area, the Des Moines River flows peacefully, just thirty yards away and down a steep bluff – offering a very picturesque setting.

“It was a day that anyone who was there will never forget,” said Scott Casber, owner/founder of Takedown Wrestling Radio. “July 4, 2012, was a great moment in the history of wrestling.”

Continue reading…

Tags: Frank Gotch, Humboldt