Frank Gotch Open House in Humboldt

Friday, May 27th, 2011 | Newspaper, Wrestling | No Comments

A story ran in the Humboldt Independent this week detailing the fundraising efforts of the committee formed to raise a statue in Gotch’s home town. Mike was the emcee at the event.

Gotch event raises funds and spirits
Frank Gotch open house puts group halfway to goal

By Kent Thompson

Frank Gotch would have been humbled by last Thursday’s outpouring of support.

Members of the Frank Gotch Project Committee were proud.

About 140 people turned out Thursday, May 19, at Rustix Restaurant and Reception for a Frank Gotch Open House.

The event brought out wrestling stars from the past, as well as University of Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands, for autographs, mingling and photographs.

Gotch Committee member Tonya Harklau reported that $4,000 in memorial brick pavers were sold along with $6,706 in glass mugs, souvenirs and silent auction items, making for a very successful kickoff fundraiser.

Read the rest of the story…

Tags: Frank Gotch, Humboldt, Tom Brands

City of Humboldt to honor Frank Gotch with a statue in park

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 | Wrestling | No Comments

HUMBOLDT, Iowa – The hometown of world wrestling champion Frank Gotch, one of the nation’s best-known athletes in the early part of the 20th Century, is making plans to honor its most famous citizen with a statue to be placed in Bicknell Park. The park occupies the site where Gotch trained for his most important match.

The project is being run by a not-for-profit organization called the Frank Gotch Statue Committee.

“Frank Gotch was arguably the top athlete in America in the 1908 to 1915 era,” said co-chair Steve Reimers, a lifelong resident of the city located in the northwestern part of the state. “Frank brought great recognition to this town and to all of Iowa. Many of us feel it is time to pay a special tribute to Gotch and the great legacy he left behind.”

Bicknell Park was the site of Gotch’s training camp prior to his epic match with George Hackenschmidt, known as The Russian Lion, on September 3, 1911, in Chicago. Gotch set up camp by the small bluff on the Des Moines River and spectators flocked to watch the world champion in training. Sports reporters from around the nation converged on Humboldt the month prior to the match. One reporter estimated that one day there were nearly 2,000 fans down by the park watching Gotch train.

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Tags: Bicknell Park, Frank Gotch, Humboldt