Junior National Memories: The first Junior Nationals in Iowa City in 1971 with Carr, Corso, Curby among champions
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Photo of the 1971 Junior National Freestyle Champions, with USWF Executive Director Myron Roderick, courtesy of WIN Magazine.
It is generally accepted that the first USA Wrestling Junior National Championships was held in the Fieldhouse at the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1971. Based upon that fact, this would have been the historic 50th Junior Nationals if USA Wrestling had not cancelled this year’s event in Fargo, N.D. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 1971, the USA was still embroiled in the Vietnam War, with Richard Nixon in his first term as the U.S. president. The social, political and cultural upheaval from the 1960’s was still going strong. It was the year Led Zeppelin first performed “Stairway to Heaven” and Rod Stewart gave us “Maggie May.” The voting age in the USA was lowered to 18. Disney World opened in Florida and Apollo 14 landed on the moon.
Of the seven Junior National Memories stories I will write this week, this will be the only one that I did not attend in person. I was 10 years old at the time, and did not start wrestling until the latter part of 1972. All I know about this event is what I can research or what I have been told.
At the time, Iowa was considered a major hotbed for wrestling in the USA (and still is). However, it was not the University of Iowa that was the big power of that time, but it was Iowa State, coached by Harold Nichols. Dave McCuskey was the head coach at the University of Iowa at the time. Dan Gable was still at Iowa State training for the Olympics, and would win a World title in 1971. The Hawkeyes had not yet won its first NCAA team title, but that would change later in the decade. The U.S. Wrestling Federation (USWF) brought its Junior National Championships to Iowa City that year, with freestyle being the only style contested.
It is not easy to find coverage of this event. The USWF did not begin to publish a newspaper until January 1973, which was edited by Bob Dellinger and called “Federation Wrestler.” The bible of wrestling at the time was Amateur Wrestling News, and the write-up from the 1971 Junior Nationals was just two paragraphs long. This is what it said, in its entirety:
Illinois Juniors Lead Federation Nationals
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Illinois wrestlers dominated the second annual U.S. Wrestling Federation Junior Nationals at the University of Iowa, July 29-31, claiming three champions, four runners-up and two thirds. Iowa and Michigan each crowned two champions, with one each going to Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Ten states had placewinners among the 200 individual entries.
Robin Richards, Oregon, was named outstanding wrestler. Mark Tiffany, Illinois, had the most falls in the least time.
That story is confusing, as it says it was the second USWF Junior Nationals. You can’t find the first Junior Nationals in the 1970 editions of Amateur Wrestling News, although they did have a Junior division at the USWF Senior Nationals that year. That could be the reason AWN called it the second annual event.
However, when you look at the first in-depth history book about wrestling, the Encyclopedia of American Wrestling written by Hall of Fame journalist and historian Mike Chapman in 1988, that 1971 Junior Nationals is listed as the first one ever. This is also the case in the current and updated book about the Junior Nationals, the Cadet and Junior Nationals All-American Almanac by Jason Bryant.
In Chapman’s landmark book, the first two paragraphs of the chapter on the Junior Nationals says this:
Whether it is called by its official name, the Junior Olympic Wrestling Championships, or by its more common name, the Junior Nationals, the fact remains that this tournament, held each summer and sponsored by USA Wrestling, has become the largest wrestling tournament in the United States and quite probably the world.
The first tournament was held in the old field house on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City in 1971 and drew competitors mostly from around the Midwest. Only freestyle was included that year, but Greco-Roman was added the following year.
When you look back at those Junior Nationals, you first notice who the champions were. Some of these athletes went on to great achievements in the sport. Other names may not be recognizable. But this was the group of champions who got the ball rolling for the Junior Nationals. The next year, when the Junior Nationals returned to Iowa City, a Greco-Roman division was added to the event.
Right off the bat, you recognize the 123-pound champion, Jimmy Carr of Pennsylvania. This was the exciting young talent from Erie, Pa., who less than a year later would make the famous 1972 Olympic Team in freestyle while still a high school teenager. He was from the famous Carr family wrestlers who made a major national impact, a family that is still putting athletes on the highest of podiums (most recently with David Carr winning a 2019 Junior World title).
Slide down to 114.5 pounds and you see Joe Corso of Iowa as champion. Corso went on to wrestle for Purdue, and made his biggest impact as a member of the 1976 Olympic wrestling team in freestyle. He later became an outstanding coach with the Sunkist Kids, one of the best women’s wrestling coaches during the developmental years for women in our sport.
At 191 pounds, the champion was Dave Curby of Michigan. These days, we know him as Dr. Dave Curby, who has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with its Order of Merit. Dr. Curby is one of the world’s leaders in the scientific study of wrestling, helping expand the impact of medicine and science in the sport. He is the father of the late Jacob Curby, a National Team Greco-Roman wrestler whose legacy is still honored with the annual Jacob Curby Awards for Greco-Roman athletes at the USOPTC as well as at Northern Michigan.
I personally don’t know much about the other champions from Iowa City, and have not done the research, although this could be a really excellent story should somebody want to invest the time. All great things in life need a start, and this group of champions were the pioneers who set the foundation for today’s Junior Nationals.
This was also the event that launched the Hall of Fame public address announcing career of Sandy Stevens, a journalist from Iowa who had announced locally in the state, but was asked to help by announcing the Junior Nationals event. Stevens has worked 48 of the 49 Junior Nationals at the mike. If you get a chance, ask Sandy about those early years of the Junior Nationals in Iowa City and she will have a ton of good stories about what they were like.
1971 Junior National freestyle champions
105.5 – Nathaniel Byrd, Michigan
114.5 – Joe Corso, Iowa
123 – Jimmy Carr, Pennsylvania
132 – Kit Shaw, Washington
143 – Andre Allen, Illinois
154 – Dan Holm, Illinois
165 – Chuck Berrier, Iowa
178 – Robin Richards, Oregon
191 – Dave Curby, Michigan
HWT – Jim Witzleb, Illinois
It is generally accepted that the first USA Wrestling Junior National Championships was held in the Fieldhouse at the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1971. Based upon that fact, this would have been the historic 50th Junior Nationals if USA Wrestling had not cancelled this year’s event in Fargo, N.D. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 1971, the USA was still embroiled in the Vietnam War, with Richard Nixon in his first term as the U.S. president. The social, political and cultural upheaval from the 1960’s was still going strong. It was the year Led Zeppelin first performed “Stairway to Heaven” and Rod Stewart gave us “Maggie May.” The voting age in the USA was lowered to 18. Disney World opened in Florida and Apollo 14 landed on the moon.
Of the seven Junior National Memories stories I will write this week, this will be the only one that I did not attend in person. I was 10 years old at the time, and did not start wrestling until the latter part of 1972. All I know about this event is what I can research or what I have been told.
At the time, Iowa was considered a major hotbed for wrestling in the USA (and still is). However, it was not the University of Iowa that was the big power of that time, but it was Iowa State, coached by Harold Nichols. Dave McCuskey was the head coach at the University of Iowa at the time. Dan Gable was still at Iowa State training for the Olympics, and would win a World title in 1971. The Hawkeyes had not yet won its first NCAA team title, but that would change later in the decade. The U.S. Wrestling Federation (USWF) brought its Junior National Championships to Iowa City that year, with freestyle being the only style contested.
It is not easy to find coverage of this event. The USWF did not begin to publish a newspaper until January 1973, which was edited by Bob Dellinger and called “Federation Wrestler.” The bible of wrestling at the time was Amateur Wrestling News, and the write-up from the 1971 Junior Nationals was just two paragraphs long. This is what it said, in its entirety:
Illinois Juniors Lead Federation Nationals
IOWA CITY, Ia. – Illinois wrestlers dominated the second annual U.S. Wrestling Federation Junior Nationals at the University of Iowa, July 29-31, claiming three champions, four runners-up and two thirds. Iowa and Michigan each crowned two champions, with one each going to Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Ten states had placewinners among the 200 individual entries.
Robin Richards, Oregon, was named outstanding wrestler. Mark Tiffany, Illinois, had the most falls in the least time.
That story is confusing, as it says it was the second USWF Junior Nationals. You can’t find the first Junior Nationals in the 1970 editions of Amateur Wrestling News, although they did have a Junior division at the USWF Senior Nationals that year. That could be the reason AWN called it the second annual event.
However, when you look at the first in-depth history book about wrestling, the Encyclopedia of American Wrestling written by Hall of Fame journalist and historian Mike Chapman in 1988, that 1971 Junior Nationals is listed as the first one ever. This is also the case in the current and updated book about the Junior Nationals, the Cadet and Junior Nationals All-American Almanac by Jason Bryant.
In Chapman’s landmark book, the first two paragraphs of the chapter on the Junior Nationals says this:
Whether it is called by its official name, the Junior Olympic Wrestling Championships, or by its more common name, the Junior Nationals, the fact remains that this tournament, held each summer and sponsored by USA Wrestling, has become the largest wrestling tournament in the United States and quite probably the world.
The first tournament was held in the old field house on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City in 1971 and drew competitors mostly from around the Midwest. Only freestyle was included that year, but Greco-Roman was added the following year.
When you look back at those Junior Nationals, you first notice who the champions were. Some of these athletes went on to great achievements in the sport. Other names may not be recognizable. But this was the group of champions who got the ball rolling for the Junior Nationals. The next year, when the Junior Nationals returned to Iowa City, a Greco-Roman division was added to the event.
Right off the bat, you recognize the 123-pound champion, Jimmy Carr of Pennsylvania. This was the exciting young talent from Erie, Pa., who less than a year later would make the famous 1972 Olympic Team in freestyle while still a high school teenager. He was from the famous Carr family wrestlers who made a major national impact, a family that is still putting athletes on the highest of podiums (most recently with David Carr winning a 2019 Junior World title).
Slide down to 114.5 pounds and you see Joe Corso of Iowa as champion. Corso went on to wrestle for Purdue, and made his biggest impact as a member of the 1976 Olympic wrestling team in freestyle. He later became an outstanding coach with the Sunkist Kids, one of the best women’s wrestling coaches during the developmental years for women in our sport.
At 191 pounds, the champion was Dave Curby of Michigan. These days, we know him as Dr. Dave Curby, who has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with its Order of Merit. Dr. Curby is one of the world’s leaders in the scientific study of wrestling, helping expand the impact of medicine and science in the sport. He is the father of the late Jacob Curby, a National Team Greco-Roman wrestler whose legacy is still honored with the annual Jacob Curby Awards for Greco-Roman athletes at the USOPTC as well as at Northern Michigan.
I personally don’t know much about the other champions from Iowa City, and have not done the research, although this could be a really excellent story should somebody want to invest the time. All great things in life need a start, and this group of champions were the pioneers who set the foundation for today’s Junior Nationals.
This was also the event that launched the Hall of Fame public address announcing career of Sandy Stevens, a journalist from Iowa who had announced locally in the state, but was asked to help by announcing the Junior Nationals event. Stevens has worked 48 of the 49 Junior Nationals at the mike. If you get a chance, ask Sandy about those early years of the Junior Nationals in Iowa City and she will have a ton of good stories about what they were like.
1971 Junior National freestyle champions
105.5 – Nathaniel Byrd, Michigan
114.5 – Joe Corso, Iowa
123 – Jimmy Carr, Pennsylvania
132 – Kit Shaw, Washington
143 – Andre Allen, Illinois
154 – Dan Holm, Illinois
165 – Chuck Berrier, Iowa
178 – Robin Richards, Oregon
191 – Dave Curby, Michigan
HWT – Jim Witzleb, Illinois
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