Page 13 - fall2011

Sports
FALL 2011 . ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE 11
Te weekend was flled with many light
moments as well. Ron Pelligra ’76 and Jack
Romagnoli ’77 arranged for a dunk tank
in front of the Hoot Owl on Saturday, and
Coach Clark went under several times.
Brown said that many wrestlers relived
their undergraduate years by trekking to
Sergi’s at 1:30 a.m. “to scarf down pizza
rolls.”
It was a weekend of nostalgia, flled with
bitter and sweet moments that reinforced
the strong cohesion forged among a fra-
ternity of exceptional wrestlers who were
indelibly infuenced by the dedication of
their highly determined coach who will
forever be a part of their SLU experiences.
Class Reporter Joel Collamer, who wrote
about Laurentian cheesemakers in the
Spring 2011 St. Lawrence, says this article
was written “with signifcant input fom
Mitch Brown, Coach Clark, Frank Shields,
Joe Davitt ’77 and Scott Conroe ’77.”
Mitch Brown ’78, right, presented Coach
Clark, left, a collage, created by Paul
Skomsky ’77, of SLU wrestling
during the Clark era .
Te keynote speaker at the wrestlers’ reunion
and John Clark roast was Russ Hellickson,
right, a two-time Olympic silver medalist
wrestler, longtime SLU wrestling school
clinician and coach of all three of Clark’s
sons at Ohio State University. With him are
Clark, left, and President Bill Fox ’75, who
also offered remarks.
More than 75 former SLU wres-
tlers and supporters returned
to Canton over the weekend
of June 10-12, to honor and “roast” their
coach, John Clark ’69, and to reconnect
with St. Lawrence. Some returned to
Canton for the frst time since graduation.
Clark’s SLU wrestling coach, Frank Shields
’54, reported that the roast “was down-
right irreverent toward the poor honoree,
but he shrugged it of with some poetry.”
Mitch Brown ’78, one of the organizers,
asked Shields to speak about the program’s
history and Clark’s signifcant contribu-
tions. Shields described the start of wres-
tling as a club sport in 1924 and its rise by
the end of the 1930s to an Eastern power-
house with the likes of Kirk Douglas ’39.
But, Shields said, the demands of World
War II caused the program to diminish
and afer the 1951 season it was dropped.
It was re-established in 1966 when Clark
and others convinced Shields, a graduate
student at the time, to coach. Teir frst
season was perfect, Shields recalled: “an
artistic 0-7.”
Following Clark’s graduation in 1969,
he became assistant coach under the late
Ted Stratford ’57, and then in 1972 he
became head coach. Focusing on re-
cruitment, over the next 23 years Clark
reshaped wrestling into one of SLU’s most
successful sports, coaching nine individual
NCAA Division III national champions
and one team champion, the 1988 squad.
He was elected to the National Wrestling
Hall of Fame, the New York State Wres-
tling Hall of Fame and the New York State
College Coaches Hall of Fame.
Once again, though, the wrestling pro-
gram was halted by SLU, this time in 1995,
a step that created anger and
resentment among the wrestling
community. Clark characterized
the reunion and roast as “a time of healing
for St. Lawrence wrestlers,” who had found
it “very difcult to understand why the
team was dropped.”
Calling wrestling “a sport of opportu-
nity,” St. Lawrence President Bill Fox ’75
ofered praise to Clark for recruiting many
frst-generation college students, many
from humble backgrounds. Many student-
athletes, Fox pointed out, have taken full
advantage of their St. Lawrence experience
and gone on to become doctors, teachers,
coaches, fnanciers and lawyers.
Clark commented that “President Fox
went out of his way to provide a warm
welcome to the wrestlers,” adding, “we’re
all older now; the pain has eased a bit,
and we’ve come to appreciate the positive
things that our time at St. Lawrence did
for us.”
Friends and teammates, with Dave
Clarke ’82 among the major fund rais-
ers, presented Mike Conners ’84 with a
$10,000 check. Mike’s teenage son has
been battling leukemia and is blind as a
side efect. Clark said, “Te presentation
was very emotional. We all cried.”
Te assembled wrestlers also observed
a moment of silence for three teammates
who have passed away: Bill Underwood
’80, Col. Barry Barone ’82, and Sgt. Mike
Evarts ’93. Evarts died on January 17,
2011, in Iraq, shortly afer speaking with
Brown about the gathering.
“We’re all older now; the pain has eased a bit, and we’ve come to
appreciate the positive things that our time at St. Lawrence did for us.”
—John Clark ’69
Wrestlers Reunite to Roast
Coach Clark
By Joel Collamer ’78
Lizette Haenel
Lizette Haenel