PAGE SIX , , . . . . , ~ ... . 0 :41t •- • , .. , . #,..../.etaated Koli By STEVE SOLOMON • Collegian Sports Writer He was a wrestler who, in four years of collegiate competition, never walked off a mat second best. He was a legend in his time, a hero, a three time NCAA Champion. He was tough. He went off to war at 18 and returned as a mature college sophomore three years later. "But only after he scored a takedown on Hitler," a friend once joked. His roughest match must have been against the Germans, because he licked every American he faced from 1945 to 1948. He was Bill Koll, the Penn State wrestling coach, arid it may have been in Europe that he decided to make the sport his. career. So he de veloped a style and winning demeanor that stayed' with him long after the firm waist and well-defined arms of his youth melted away. ' 'Fierce Competitor He became a champion first, then an author ity. He won tournaments, then organized them. His speech comes from a wrestling book, but not his personality. He's warm, personable, candidly honest. He has an aggressive look, but as a high school boy he learned to release it only where it could benefit him—on the wrestling mats. It has made him a fierce. competitor, and a winner. "There's nothing he likes better than a close meet," one of his wrestlers said, "but he'd better have one more point than his opponent after the last match." t Bill Koll's march towards a spot in the record books started after his graduation from Ft. Dodge (Iowa) High School. He entered the State College of lowa, a small break in the cornfields of the Midwest, and. won ten straight dual meets and the state AAU title as a freshman. Then a battle on a much target' scale called, and Koli, dressed in khakis, was in Eurcpe the following year. The work was dangerous and the towns monotonously similar. Nimes, Clermont- Ferrand, St. Etienne, Troyes. It was hell, but it gave him a certain callousness that only hunting another man with a rifle can give. Unnerving Experience And by comparison, it gave him the feeling that wrestling a man face to face in front of 5,000 people back in the, States isn't the worst ex- rTr - si:r.a ~ a~•a° :7"; r te . 4 1 Az. • ~ • Fit .69 El •Ai ‘IF OT °lin lan Classifieds Turk Pinned Him in Olmpics, But... perience in the world. Koll returned to State College of lowa in 1945, a sort of athletic Napolean ready to direct a na tion's post-war attention back to the gymnasium. His return elevated SCI above its tassle and silk surroundings and signaled the greatest era of wrestling the school has ever known. STUDYING the situation are Bill Koll and assistant wrestling coach George Edwards (left). Doll is seldom this quiet during a match as the lively coach frequently takes to his feet to shout encouragement and advice to his wrestlers. THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA Koll was never defeated in collegiate com petition, although it wasn't until his junior year that he overcame the effects of the three year layoff that had him dodging bullets in Europe. He went unscathed through 5 consecutive dual meet bouts, and won the NCAA 145-pound title three times running. Twice he was the outstan& ing wrestler in the tournament. Different Sport Wrestling in 1945 was essentially a different sport than its descendant today. The rule book could have been read cover to cover and memo rized between. the first and second periods of a match. It was a rough sport. Virtually any hold was legal. You had to defend yourself at all times, lest you find yourself lifted five feet off the mats and bounced up and down on your nose several times., It was 'a brutal era; but it bred its heroes. Koll's profile decorated the sports pages of many Midwestern newspapers, and he probably could have stolen a few votes from Truman in 1948 if he weren't competing for a medal in the London Olympic Games. It was in London where he met his match. His opponent in the semifinal round was a Turk with a style completely foreign to the Western method. Koll, nevertheless, scored seven take downs, 'but in one agonizing moment left himself vulnerable—and was pinned. .With the tough American out of the way, the winner breezed to a gold medal. Twelve years later, Koll was enshrined in the Helms Athletic Foundation Wrestling Hall of Fame. By that time he was a coach, and rapidly establishing himself in the upper echelon of the nation's wrestling mentors. Koll had returned to his alma mater in 1953 to succeed his, collegiate coach, Dave McCuskey. He produced his first NCAA champion in the same year, Jim Harmon, at 157. Two more fol lowed Bill Weick at 157 in 1955, and Bill Dot son at 137 in 1963. His eleven year record at SCI was 71-42-6. He moved on to Penn State in 1964. It was a move into the big time, where Bill Koll,belongs. The office is still small, but there is always a story, a few laughs, a blue haze of cigar smoke. And a lot of memories. ant a company that s you follow through on your own ideas? See IBM Feb. 26th or 27th!' "I was determined not to take a job where I'd be compartmentalized. That's one reason I chose IBM," says George Leffler. (George, who has his B.S. in Engineering, is a Systems Engineering Manager in Marketing.) . The job itself "You start by studying a customer's business even before he orders equipment. Then it's up to you to come up with a system that solves the customer's problems. You stay with it until it's installed and fully operational. You guide the customer every step of the way. So following through on your own ideas is part of your job." 5,000 more managers "Another thing I like about working here is the chance for advancement. For example, IBM has over 5,000 more managers today than they had four years ago. And they need more every day." We'd like to tell you more about the IBM story. We'll be interviewing on campus for careers in Marketing, ' Computer Applications, Programming, Research and Development, Manufacturing, and Field , Engineering.. Sign up for an interview at your placement office, even if you're headed for graduate school or military service. And if youcan't make a campus interview, send an outline of your interests and educational background to Mr. 1. C. Pfeiffer, IBM Corporation, 100 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois' 60606. L 0 We're an equal opportunity 0 employer. Established as Coach ,::,,, , Lof.';.:'_:i,, ,•:,,l's::.:..' U' <;,::' , ;;,' - ; 1.0 , 1%r U'3' '4, ' . `"1!; ^;...+,"i' s 'i ,' S , t`t.k , g.'-';‘'•'•‘',:(f;',le,'li , .:,:-- ..,.,.:,- .:-..!, ~, ~,,,,0 ':i., , ,! , : :, , , ,; i ''"iz"'i os.' , '' , ' .-,.-r.'M ~,. f, :,-, , ':' , :''' . :' s's‘ . . ',:''.2•'' ‘ --- km' -,, V;..rkr,,, , ?: 4 14ZN1V4.4 V . ` 7: '• ,',"',-'",'-, I‘.--'V ''`,: .: , :N ,,-A0,,,,,, .VAQ4a,!;,:Z:' : -,-;,-Th5 ,),,.. Ai'.,:,,. —„...:1. , ~ -.z. , : , ,..-:-, ,, , , , ,- ;y•*-•?',7,, -:":` , :,71,4;,7Y z f :w..., o .w~~` Wrestling Coach Bill Koll Gives Directions Duri .. . • •. .'-- . _ z.tine t i ii:iliz :/A1(45:;:1-1C KNIPW- m F ;.t . 4 -241 tg' • •••• •• • k • \•, *r. 7 : ^' ' L-•• • 4 VIA Li kr 4r SJ. •j, •i;,.‘:.,4; .st . • s .i . t9'" ' ' ' ./0wt,t,,,.%,, , r .,,,, , ,00.:,,, ~..,,.., 4 ;0 4 0 01 ivoi.o 43 i t . .;-‘-',, , bd 2 4.4141- ,s 1 ; 2, 1 2;4. - -IM - M.t].o ,- -F?:AL NI-17',.',C1"*.Y6' THE BIG NEW GRANTS THE NITTANY MALL TRIANGLE ROUTES 64 AND 26(N) BETWEEN STATE COLLEGE AND BELLEFONTE OPEN: MON'D'AY THRU SATURDAY 10 A.M. TO 10 P.M a *Oa i „frd t . I A I a „ . scy."'s , •%!: • 1-.';k , ' --;'9: l °T, 4 1 ~: ~,7 s t ,;.:.'"-' '.740.. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers