Monday, May 11, 2020

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their best = Massachusetts


I haven't been able to find out a whole heck of a lot about Minutemen wrestling, but from what I understand they were usually a solid program that had some years better than others.  I know the early 70's were good times for the program as they finished as the NEIWA (New England Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) runner-up in 1970, winning titles in 1971 & 1973. 

I'm not sure why Minutemen wrestling was dropped but I do know that their final season was 1984-1985.

John Allen
HWT
A two time New York state champion out of Sachem high school, Allen was a three time NCAA qualifier for the Minutemen in 78', 79' & 80'.

George Zguris
191 lbs
George Zguris was a two time NEIWA champion winning titles in 1969 & 1970 his sophomore and junior seasons.  He finished as the runner-up in 1971.

Carl Danbam
HWT
Dambam won NEIWA titles for the Minutemen in 1971 & 1972 as a sophomore and junior.  He finished in third place in 1973 as a senior.

Shelly Goldberg
134, 130 lbs
Goldberg was a three time NEIWA champion winning titles in his last three seasons of 70', 71' & 72'.
Dennis Fenton
HWT
Without question, the best wrestler Massachusetts ever produced was Dennis Fenton a local of Classical High School.  As a two sport athlete that also played football for the Minutemen, Fenton won four NEIWA titles (74', 75', 76' & 77') in wrestling. 

Post graduation, Fenton coached both wrestling and football at Putnam Vocational Technical Academy in Springfield.


Chris Lee
126 lbs
Another local, this time from Salem High,  Lee qualified for two NCAA championships in 1984 & 1985.  He was the Minutemen's final qualifier before the program was dropped.

4 comments:

  1. Carl Dambman who wrestled for U Mass is from Upper Darby, PA and might have placed in the NCAA's

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    Replies
    1. I have him as an NCAA qualifier. What year do you think he made All American? I can double check.

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  2. Would you like to write on West Chester University of PA Wrestling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://johnnythompsonnum1.blogspot.com/2020/02/gone-lost-forgotten-their-best-west.html

      Delete