WHEN YOUR WRESTLING COACH HAS ONLY ONE OPTION LEFT
They called him Papa Joe. A tough as nails wrestling coach who for countless years not only coached the Mater Dei wildcats wrestling team but also coached the High School football program. With a school of about 500 students he was the type of coach who surrounded himself with other wrestler alumni who filled in the gaps that he lacked. He had assistant coaches Randy Helfrich and Mike Goebel who had wrestled for him in the past.. Joe had taken over the program many years ago after Gus Peters had introduced the program in the early 50’s. So while Randy was your technician, Mike Goebel was the inspiring motivator who both came from successful careers themselves. Papa Joe was respected for being able to get you in shape no matter what it took. His large frame and never say die attitude was quite a presence around the school. He also taught a number of classes, Social studies being one, and yes though we didn’t see him smoke them. He enjoyed an occasional cigar with a smile that said , I’m large and in charge here. . In High School wrestling you had 3- 2 minute periods. That really doesn’t seem that long, However in a close match between two great athletes it is the most exhaustive experience I have ever encountered. Running a marathon without training, football games going both ways,Bike riding 110 miles in 8-10 hours, none of this compared to a heated intense match of two titans going at it.
I do though have great respect for prizefighters who go 15 rounds while beating the crap out of each other. Though they get a break every 3 minutes. I was amazed at what their workout program must be to go the distance. Joe Gossman, a man who demanded respect and got it.A man who knew that in a close match if his boy was in better shape the chance of winning was much greater. So Joe Gossman puts you into the best shape of your life. A normal practice included 25 laps around the gymnasium, which include 6 flights of stairs. Calisthenics, drills for nearly an hour, then live wrestling for another 45 minutes or longer. But wait, the live wrestling was not done in the main room. No Joe had a better spot. On the floor of our room there was a metal door. When you opened the door there was a metal ladder of handles going down some 15 ‘ where a mat awaited you in a small square area measuring about 25’x25’ and to the left of the room were two large metal doors. And yes, behind those doors were the boiler system that heated the entire school. Welcome to “The Hole” as it was so hauntingly named. And as you waited for the coach to descend the ladder a smile would usually come to his face as he hurried over to the thermostat and would say.” Boy it’s cold down here lets crank up the heat”. This was the drill sergeant whose number one objective was to get you in shape. Whether you were wearing shorts and a tee shirt or, as most of us needed to lose weight,your wardrobe consisted of multiple shirts under sweats { not allowed today) with the belief that you were stronger at 145 vs 155 or 132 vs 138 lbs.
. This room began to prepare and introduce you to..hell on earth. Joe Gossman style.
“Lets get it on” he would shout, the whistle was blown and all you could think about was wanting to climb the ladder, but it was never soon enough.
Joe was well known for some of his famous quotes. If you were the type of kid that acted like a smart alec or a know it all. Joe would challenge you in his own unique way.He would say you were a catfish.” All mouth and no ass”. Though he would say it with a smile, you knew he was telling you that you may say it and think it, but he doubted that you could back it up. And he was usually right . In a catholic highschool on the westside of Evansville Indiana,. this was an acceptable way to keep young cocky boys and sometimes girls under control.” Schroeder, You’re nothing but a big catfish, all mouth and…..
As we would all laugh, it was very apparent who was in charge.
The wrestling Program at Mater Dei was seeing consistent success locally. Through our history Bill Trainer in {1953 } and Fred Happe (1964 } had put us on the map with individual state championships, with a number of top 4 finishers to boot. One 4th place man with the nickname of “APE,” Don Scheller, who was my uncle, was one of many grapplers who slowly began making this small school recognizable in the art of Wrestling
. . So now Joe with his teams of red and gold began traveling north realizing that the only way we were going to become a more competitive team on the state level, was by wrestling better competition. This was obvious when in the late 60s a team like Bloomington would come down to Evansville and actually beat us so badly, only a couple wildcats would come out of the meet without getting pinned. One, I’m very proud to say, was my brother Jim Schroeder. The Bloomington team had an incredible move we had not seen before. It was called the cradle. The other thing this team had was a guy named Doug Blubaugh. Who was Doug you may ask? Well If you go back to the Olympics of 1960. Not only did this Gentleman from the USA win a gold medal defeating some of the best wrestlers in the world. Doug also was named the most outstanding wrestler of the entire Olympics. So Doug was one of the coaches of this team who came down to Evansville to show us that the wildcats of Mater dei were going to have to take their lumps if in fact we wanted to become more competitive on the Hoosier stage.
I did get the opportunity to wrestle one of Mr Blubaugh sons my Senior year. The two twins Dale and {Dean } were super athletes and Dean ,became a state champion his senior year. So as Mater dei began to wrestle more competitive teams we also got to see how Joe as our coach and mentor began a tradition of making sure we were the best dressed and respectable group when we left Evansville. Going to tournaments and spending the nights in hotels was an energizing way to spend your weekends in the winter months as a teenager. But when you traveled with Joe Gossman you were wearing dress clothes and a tie so that when we entered the school we were noticed. Now this was not that big of a deal in the mid to late 70s because at that time we were required to wear ties everyday while attending Mater Dei. Our school was preparing us to someday be professional in appearance, manners and yes, leadership. So while we walked throughout the state representing Mater Dei. We did it with a little….style. Not that we were the only school wearing ties but it was rare.
The reason I bring up the whole tie Issue is to give you a bit of clarity as to one of the craziest and funniest moments of My entire Papa Joe Experiences. It was January of 1978 and our team was on a roll. During the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference tourney, or SIAC for short.
We had already wrestled the preliminary rounds weeks before. It was during a major Blizzard in the Midwest which saw us all spending the night with a number of other teams in a Mt Vernon School. Talk about fun, imagine an entire gym filled with sleeping bags and cot brought in by the civil Defense laid out on mats in one of the best slumber parties you could imagine. All the teams became much closer that night as we watched the snow pile up and wondered, where did they put all of the cheerleaders? For a bunch of testosterone filled wrestlers there was a lot of curiosity. And Yes, their adult supervisors had them under lock and key, but I’m sure I was not the only guy that night, who was wondering if they were tucked in soundly.
So because of the blizzard the final round was not for several weeks later and as we all prepared for a very competitive day at Castle High School. Things got very Crazy very fast.
As we all met that morning in our dressing room to board the bus. Joe Gossman came back to the room. Lord, he was not a happy man. He immediately started yelling and asking who in the Hell made this decision and someone will pay. “ What was he talking about? Why the anger? And then it came out.” Why in the hell are you guys not wearing your suits today?” He was absolutely sure that this was a conspiracy and since I was one of the team captains I needed to right the wrong and tell him who started this mutiny… aboard His ship. As I looked around to all my fellow teammates. I must admit I was utterly shocked. All of us were wearing casual clothes and for the life of me to this day, we all still cannot decide how all of us went against the dress code. Maybe because we were not traveling out of the city even though Newburgh was a different city just east of Evansville, maybe ???? what was for sure,was we had enraged our coach to a point that instead of a chair, like a popular basketball coach north of us.Joe took the keys he had in his hand and threw them with a velocity that traveled thru the dressing room, the shower room and another dressing room. “ LOAD THE BUS.” he growled, “It was going to be a very long day.
What should have been a SIAC that we were favored to win turned out to be, not our finest hour. We lost matches we should not have and we just couldn’t buy a break. And all through the day we could not escape the fact that our coach was still fuming about our wardrobe malfunction. I still realized that some 10 hours later as I was preparing to get ready to leave. Joe pulled me to the side and inquired. Schroeder, who was the person that called everyone about not wearing a tie? Still reeling from the realization we lost SIAC, I found it intriguing that this was still foremost on his mind. “Honestly coach, I do not believe anyone called anyone”. It was just a freak of nature that we all woke up that morning and went casual. “ Sorry”. But the best was yet to come
.
Not only was Joe our coach and disciplinarian, but even pissed off at the world he was our Van driver. And as we drove west heading back to our school you could hear a pin drop as we all were not going to give coach any reason to implode, again. And then it happened…. As we were approaching one of Evansville’s largest venues for entertainment and sporting events, Roberts stadium, There had been an event that night, and as it was letting out, there was a police officer in the middle of the road directing traffic with a flashlight. And as he was letting our line of traffic proceed, he did the unthinkable, At least in Papa Joe’s Mind. He made our van stop to allow a long line of traffic to emerge in front of us.. With the emotion of a wounded whale we all heard it “ Well you Cluck- eyed Cluckeee” you can stick that flashlight up your…….. With the windows up and the gentleman far enough away that he couldn’t hear. We all sat there in total confusion. As Joe continued grumbling inaudibly we all looked at each other and quietly mouthed the words. CLUCKEYED CLUCKEE, CLUCKEYED CLUCKEE. What pray tell is a Cluckeyed Cluckee,? Needless to say the rest of the trip back was one of silent laughter and head scratching. And as we all left that night we still had a very disgruntled coach. And our Nomenclature was now advanced with new words that have to this day still not made it into Webster’s Dictionary. And we had seen what can happen when a large dressing down malfunction can evolve into a day you want to forget but never will.
So coach Gossman, who has now been the head coach for 22 years, is entering the end of the season, and rumor has it may be the end of his coaching career. He may be getting ready to retire.. The end of the season is where for most wrestlers is the time to see “just how good you really are.” Over the course of the next 4 weeks you can advance through sectionals, Regional, Semi state. And Yes hopefully head to the mats at State. Several wrestlers on our team had the talent to Make it to Semi State and My good Friend and Wrestling Partner Keith Schnur was one of them. Keith, who wrestled 138, was definitely the type of wrestler who could go all the way. Keith had come from a family of successful wrestlers, his older brother Mark had advanced to state a couple years earlier.. Keith was not only a great wrestler, who like me, started at a very early age. (second grade in my case) but for his size was also a very good football player for the Wildcats. As a fullback and a linebacker, Keith had a natural sense of where the ball was at all times and had an incredible power both as a rusher, blocker and tackler. With His driven spirit I can only imagine where he would have gone if he had a 6-4 220 lb frame. But at 140 lbs he did not catch the eyes of too many college scouts.
The advantage of having Keith as a wrestling partner every day was that our practices were much tougher then most of our matches. When you get to wrestle state caliper teammates day in and day out who have the same personal pride. You cannot help but get better and stronger. You are only as good as your competition, some smart athlete once acknowledged.. And In My case Keith helped me improve my abilities each day. We both got out of Regional, and knew our next step to state would lead us to some of our toughest competition to date. At this time, I had one blemish on my record. A guy I had met at a Mooresville Tournament earlier in the year. Jay Wiley, a person I was not really familiar with. Back then I really didn’t study my future opponents, until I saw them on my radar. I had wrestled one of Jay”s teammates, One of the Blubaugh twins so I was not sure if Jay was going to be in my weight class anyway. No, the only person on my radar was a name I was hearing all year. Greg Dooley, from Perry Meridian.
Greg was the wrestler who people were mentioning. He was Ranked number one in the state and deserved it. He was an excellent technical grappler who made very, very few mistakes. I never got to watch him on film. In the 70’S not everyone had a video camera and The Schroeders did not have the money to buy one anyway. But make no mistake about it. My path to state would incur a huge roadblock because even though I was first in my Regional I would meet Greg in the semi finals, and back in 1978
only the top two from each of 4 semi states went on to state. The IHSAA finally realized you could have the 3 best wrestlers at the same semi state and only two would later be recognized.. So now the top 4 of each weight class advance
So the day and the match finally arrived. In 3 two minute periods I was going to find out if I was worthy to represent a very good coach and a Mater Dei tradition. where many of us dreamed for many years we would like to be.
After shaking the hand of my opponent and the whistle was blown, I found out very quickly why this man was ranked where he was. Through 2 periods I found myself behind and frustrated that no matter what I tried he seemed to be a step ahead of me. With My coach yelling every bit of positive encouragement to me I was still being beaten by a better wrestler..
With about a minute left in the third period and totally exhausted down by 3 points. It was becoming painfully obvious that I had met my match. As I struggled to keep my base and another attempt to sit out and stand up failed, I had to finally face the realization that my highschool wrestling career was coming to an end. I remember vividly that I had to accept the fact that a dozen years of blood sweat and some tears were soon to be over. I even imagined having to go to my dad and telling him I gave it all I had but it just wasn’t good enough. I also would have to look my coach in the eyes and tell him I was sorry we were not going to state next week. The same coach I respected highly and the same coach who I knew respected me. I could barely hear the crowd from Mater Dei who were always known for their unprecedented support of their wrestling teams. But even now, I could hear in their voices what I was feeling throughout my body.
I remember looking up at the clock and there were less than 25 seconds left.” It’s over” raced across my mind……..
Then I heard my coach, my mentor, shout something to me I could not freaking believe. And then he said it again even louder” Damn you Schroeder, “You’re a quitter and you have always been a quitter. As that comment blasted, again in my mind, I went ballistic. In a fraction of a second my mind, my adrenaline, my whole body and everything in me exploded. As I came to my feet instantly my mind could not grasp what this guy had said to me.”I have always been a quitter?, the guy who had followed this man to hell and back year after year. The guy who respected him and helped him in working with the team. Geeze I even cleaned the mats for a couple years every day. And I have always been a quitter?.
They talk about how adrenaline in the right situations have seen people pick up cars to save a life and super strength is observed when a normal human being is in an extraordinary moment.
With just seconds left in the match I was infuriated at what I had heard and instinct told me that an escape and a takedown would keep me alive. But I was fighting two foes. at this point. Dooley had no Idea where this surge of energy came from and this coach sitting on the chair in my corner had pissed me off so much.I was not myself. As I got a very quick escape I tied up and charged toward Greg with all I had and we went out of bound. As the whistle blew I looked up to see two seconds left on the clock. I now had two seconds to take down the best wrestler in the state. I was still enraged, so my only move. I could possibly do with 2 seconds left was what I had, had success with many other times in my career. I had to get him to raise his arms, so a step through double leg takedown was all I had time for. I knew I was going to have to tap him hard on the head, of which I may be called for a penalty, to break his concentration and even then to get control of him before the buzzer sounded was going to be a super close call from the referee. But, by God it worked. Driving my right hand to his forehead, and at the same time driving through him undeterred . I was able to easily sweep through the legs and take him down as the buzzer went off. In that millisecond I knew that it was up to the referee to decide if it was in time. And with the patented shout from the crowd.of “2” the referee raised his hand and awarded the points.
As we quickly started overtime all I remember is that I was still in a rage over what Joe Yelled to me.
Over the next three one minute periods I was a different opponent. There was no fatigue, no fear, Just anger. And 3 minutes later I was going to state with a simple 1-0 victory. I don’t remember if I shook Joe’s hand. As I stormed off the mat but I do remember my brother coming down and hugging me and getting many well wishes form the red and gold crowd. I do remember finishing the championship round beating Jay Wiley. So that on that day many would say I may have been the best 155 pounder in the state. But in reality, the best wrestler that day was still probably
Greg Dooley. If I wrestled him ten times in a normal situation I would guess he would win 8 of the ten but today it wasn’t a normal day. Today a coach had to do something he desperately needed to try. With all the positive reinforcement not working. He had to go primeval. He had to hit a nerve that would make a person explode. Man, did it work. I remember still being incensed hours later. And I could see Big Joe sitting over in his chair with arms folded across his chest with his signature cigar in his mouth, legs crossed with this grin on his face that read. Damn, I think it worked, maybe I should have said it sooner.. “ Yes coach it did and thank you, thank you thank you for finding the spark that I could not find or no one else could.
Papa Joe Gossman. You found a way.
A week later with a fairly easy quarter and Semi final rounds I found myself again facing Jay Wiley under the lights. My hope was to win one more match, Joe’s final match, and then as calmly and controlled as possible shake the hand of my opponent and his coach and my coaches and respectfully wave to the crowd, with a thank you for being here.
However two ankle picks later
This two time state champion Junior, from Bloomington North, would have none of it. My wrestling God above had a different plan. A plan that I would later realize. And remind myself that, Second, is just God’s way of saying YOU ARE NOT FINISHED YET. And that I can live with.
Thanks again coach. Sorry your last coaching opportunity was a loss. We will meet again.
Note. The legendary wrestling success of Evansville Mater Dei Wildcats has been detailed in John Johnson’s book, We are MD. published in 2014. As of this writing the wildcats have had many state Championships Including the 9 State championship teams in 9 years, still a state record. plus additional state championships along the way due to the great coaching of the duel efforts of Coaches Mike Goeble and Randy Helfich. I will talk about these amazing coaches another day.. Mater Dei has also had their first National division 1 NCAA champion Nick Lee wrestling for Penn state.in 2021. Great teams are created by Tradition, Coaching, solid parenting, and In this case a fan following like nothing I have ever seen. The Mater Dei community is second to none, and we are a team, driven by those before us. When It comes to support and vocal presence at the perfect time in close matches. If you have ever witnessed the red and Gold masses. You definitely know what I mean.when you hear the thundering “ TWO”. the fans yell, And yes, many a Referees have beckoned to the call. .
”