THE TRIALS... 1968 finish 1st as long as Sofman didn’t pin Piven. But Piven, while ahead in the match, gets hurt and has to injury default, so I ended up 2nd. However, I had my invitation to the Finals Camp. Rich Sofman thinks back on his career and the ’68 Trials: I never wrestled at all until I went to college. In the fall of 1961, I enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania. I was quite small and the freshman crew coach recruited me to be the coxswain for the eight-man Penn freshman boat. The stroke on the boat was also on the wrestling team and he told me to ‘come on out for wrestling, too.’ I went over to the wrestling room and met Coach Don Frey. I started learning the sport and took to it. I learned a lot, especially throws, pancakes, and headlocks. The headlock was really my bread and butter move. By my senior year I had improved considerably. At the EIWA tournament, I lost to the top-seed at 123 by one point in the semi-finals and finished 4th. After graduating from Penn in 1965, I started working out at the NYAC, particularly with Chick Murano and Andy Fitch. They were great partners for me and I continued to improve. In April of 1966 I won the National AAUs at 125.5 [Author’s note: defeating an impressive field that included Rick Sanders, Fred Powell and Jim Hazewinkel.] As the ’68 Olympic year rolled around I picked up my training pace at the NYAC and entered the AAUs feeling great. I pinned most of my opponents in the early rounds, then killed Behm 9-1 and defeated Hatta to take the 125.5 title. I didn’t know it then but I had hit my peak – too early. At Ames, I wrestled well, pinning just about everyone. I met Behm in the final round-robin and we drew, but I had fewer black-mark points so I won the top seed for the Finals Camp. Mike Young recalls: To get ready for the Camp, I spent a lot of time in the summer of ’68 with Rick Sanders and Bobby Douglas. The three of us became very close as we worked out together in Portland and Boise. During the summer and at the start of the Camp, I was expecting to challenge at 138.5, the same weight class as Douglas and Huff. I normally weighed around 150 and didn’t think I 58 Wrestlers At The Trials
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THE TRIALS... 1968
He definitely had the edge on me in the next two bouts and defeated me both times to win the weight class. I was blown away. I have never been so devastated in my life. I went home crying in my soup. However, Don Behm earned it – I can’t say I could have done as good a job as he did in Mexico City.
– RICH SOFMAN
Former Ivy League wrestler Rich Sofman peaked too early in his attempt to make the 1968 Olympic team Photograph courtesy of Wade Schalles
could pull down to 125.5. Plus, there was only a three-pound weight allowance for the challenge matches. Four or five days before the challenge matches, Sanders and Douglas took me aside. They told me that I should go down to 125.5 so that the three of us could be Olympians. I was dubious. 138.5 was my comfortable competing weight and I only had a few days to make 125.5. Well, they talked me into it. I remember staying up all night sweating it out in a rubber suit. Sanders and Douglas stayed up all night with me. It was miserable – a major mistake on my part. I made weight finally and had to wrestle and defeat Don Behm twice to advance to the finals. The first match went well and I won. For our next match I was really feeling horrible and lost on a headlock move of Behm’s. I just couldn’t muster up the strength to go after him hard and I lost, 2-1. While I was upset that I didn’t get to go to the Olympics, I believe that Behm was the right man to go. He was a terrific competitor. And, Douglas was really an excellent wrestler and I don’t know if I could have beaten him had I stayed at my normal weight class. Don Behm says: I was ready for the Finals Camp. Actually, I worked harder to get there than while I was
there. I was in great shape and knew that no one was doing what I was doing. The key to my success in Colorado was my understanding about the high altitude and my personal training for it. I knew from experience that you had to adapt quickly to the environment. As soon as I got off the plane I went and worked out. My body quickly started adjusting to the need for more oxygen. While there I would run 25 wind sprints of 75 yards each, and then go run three miles across the sand dunes. I started working out three times a day and then increased it to four. I was in the best shape of my life. Rick Sanders was my usual workout partner and we pushed each other very hard. My first opponent was Mike Young. I knew he was cutting a huge amount of weight and he had to beat me twice in a row. Didn’t happen. He beat me decisively in the first match, but I knew that he couldn’t keep up with me the second day, and my conditioning paid off. I beat him and now had to wrestle Rich Sofman. We drew in our first match, but then I beat him twice and won the Olympic spot. All my training paid off for me. I was elated. All I could think of was, ‘I did it’. I called my wife back home and everyone in my family was so happy. Rich Sofman remembers his own crushing disappointment: At the Finals Camp, I wasn’t in ‘the zone’. For some reason I wasn’t feeling great. One day out there, a manager or someone gave me an Olympic uniform. That was bad – I believe it jinxed me.
As the challenge matches started, I watched Behm and Young wrestle each other. I was sure that Young would win and that psyched me up. Young and I had never wrestled each other. I would have much rather wrestled him than Don. Until you wrestle me, because I am so short, it’s difficult to figure me out. However, Behm beat Young, so Don was my Finals challenger. I just had to beat him once. In our first match, he shot in on me and I threw him on his back to take the lead. However, Don came back to tie me 2-2. He definitely had the edge on me in the next two bouts and defeated me both times to win the weight class. I was blown away. I have never been so devastated in my life. I went home crying in my soup. However, Don Behm earned it – I can’t say I could have done as good a job as he did in Mexico City. 154 Freestyle – Werner Holzer vs Wayne Wells vs Fred Lett
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erner Holzer recalls his wrestling days: I started wrestling at the Chicago City Park & Recreation Department in 1948. I was a scrapper and I was good enough to stimulate my interest. In high school I was a teammate of Terry McCann. Terry was a senior when I was a freshman. We both won state titles for Chicago Schurz high school. Both my parents were immigrants and there were no plans for me to go to college. However, winning the Illinois State Tournament in 1955 gave me a chance at a scholarship and I chose to go to the University of Illinois. In college I was undefeated my sophomore year in dual meets. At the NCAAs, I lost to Ron Gray in the semi-finals and ended up 3rd at 147 pounds. My junior and senior years I competed, but I had severe shoulder problems which limited me. I placed in the Big Ten tournament but not in the Nationals. After graduating in 1959, I went into the Army and I missed the ’60 Trials. I was stationed in California and wrestled for several years, first Wrestlers At The Trials 59