GREG STROBEL AWARDS MEDALS, CHANGES LIVES

In 1973, Greg Strobel was the best college wrestler in the NCAA Championship meet. The best of the best.

A group of high school wrestlers from North Bend drove up to Seattle to watch the matches.

We saw what greatness looked like toward the end of the finals when Greg Strobel stepped out on the mat and got thrown right to his back. And still won.

What was so great about that? He didn’t panic, didn’t do anything that looked like “OH NO.”

All he did was grind through to the win like it was just another day.

Little did I know that Greg Strobel would show up on my biggest day in wrestling. First, the background:

Coach Abraham, North Bend Wrestling

My high school coach was also a Junior World national greco-roman coach who took a team to Japan in the summer of 1970. One of his guys, Robin Richards, won second in the world, then came back for his senior year of high school wrestling.

As a junior he’d already won the Oregon triple crown of greco, freestyle, and folk style. His last year of high school wrestling was my first as a sophomore.

I took to greco because I had lousy leg defense, and greco was entirely upper body, no legs. Perfect. Having Robin in the room made big things seem possible.

That year, 1971, I won the pink ribbon for 6th place in the state greco meet at 180 lbs. It looked like something handed out at the state fair 4H.

The next year I got advised to cut weight hard, so I did. And I went out to lose to guys I’d beat before. Weight loss made me too weak at 165 lbs.

The next year I came in at 190 lbs, Strobel’s weight. I’d heard that he didn’t cut weight and did just fine. Sounded like a plan to me.

I was a nobody on the wrestling radar at 190, a weight that included the guy who took second place in state folk style to champion Larry Bielenberg. I watched their match in the Corvallis finals after I went two and done. But Bielenberg came into the state greco as a heavyweight.

After losing my first match in greco, I knew I had to win out. Losing another match meant I was done. I didn’t feel done, and I wanted something to go along with the pink ribbon from two years earlier.

One of the wrestlers I had to face was Greg Strobel’s brother, Tim.

From The Podium

By the time the finals for greco came up, I’d already beat everyone left. The guy who beat me lost to the eventual silver medalist. He’s the sheepish looking character to my left in the top image, the one who got pinned by a nobody from North Bend.

He had planned on adding greco gold to his folk style silver.

In those days the champion was decided by a round robin deal in each weight class, where the top three faced each other. Since I’d already faced them all, the round robin for 190 lbs was for second place through sixth.

I sat in the Marshfield grandstands with my dad when the final matches started.

“Aren’t you in the finals,” he asked?

“Nope,” I answered. “No finals for me.”

“Why?”

“Because I already beat everyone. I’m here to put on my warm ups over my clothes and climb up to the top spot.”

“That doesn’t seem right,” he said.

“What is right is that you’re sitting next to the State of Oregon Greco Roman Champion at 190 lbs. How does that feel,” I said.

“It feels like you’d better get down there for the medal ceremony.”

I hustled off, got my gear on, and stood on that podium feeling like a fraud next to the guys who just battled it out. There I was all fresh and showered.

I didn’t register that Greg Strobel was the medal guy, but I leaned over and he hung gold around my neck. I had one question:

“Mr. Strobel, what were you thinking when you landed on your back in the NCAA finals.”

“I happened fast and I knew if he didn’t get me early, he wouldn’t get me late. And he didn’t.”

It was unreal to talk to one of the big dogs in college wrestling. I was a little worried he might say something about his brother’s match. My style wasn’t popular, hanging of the edge of the mat where I could dive out of bounds if one of throws went sideways. And they did.

Opponents called me a staller and complained to the refs after I got a lead and flopped around, eeking out one point wins over good guys. I learned how to win. Strobel’s words have hung with me ever since.

Greg Strobel Remembered

“The news of Greg’s passing is shocking and difficult to process, mostly because Greg was so full of life and optimism and energy, perhaps more so than anyone I have ever known,” Sterrett said. “His resilience and strength through a successful battle with cancer a few years ago, and then the loss of his wife Donna less than a year ago were profound examples to everyone who knew him of the power of faith and a positive attitude.“