Seven Hills Wrestling Team

Soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis. These are sports that many alumni played during their time at Seven Hills. Field hockey has given way to lacrosse. Teams of gymnasts have been replaced by hordes of squash players.

But did you know that Seven Hills had a wrestling team? Ten student athletes embarked on the inaugural season during the 1984-85 school year. The athletes had little experience and spent time learning the fundamentals of the sport, but improved enough to place third in the Miami Valley Conference meet their first year. The following few seasons, the team grew in members and experience with the help of head coach and Seven Hills science teacher Bill Devine, who coached from 1987 to 1990. They would practice their takedowns, breakdowns, and pinning combinations in the loft space of what is now the Kalnow Gym.

Brett Rubenstein ’89 was a member of the team at its peak of popularity in the late 1980s to early 1990s. “We were a small team. There were always some weight classes that were unoccupied which made it hard for us to compete as a team, but in the weight classes we had students in, we were pretty competitive on an individual level.” He remembers at larger meets, the team would group up with other smaller schools, like Summit Country Day, to create a large enough team to fill all weight classes. Rubenstein remarked, “One of the highlights from my time on the team at Seven Hills, other than getting to be with my teammates, was meeting and making friends with wrestlers from other small schools like Summit and Cincinnati Country Day; some of them are still my closest friends. Even though we wrestled for different schools, we shared a common interest. The conversations I had with competitors and teammates during the down time at big meets are some of the times I cherish the most.” Rubenstein remarked, “Wrestling taught me dedication and perseverance. You can really gauge your growth because, even though there is a team component, it’s just you and your opponent out on the mat.” Brett’s brother, Scott Rubenstein ’91, also wrestled all four years of high school.

After the 1990 season, Coach Jamie Myers stepped in, and while the team tapered in numbers, the individual wrestlers continued to learn, hone their skills, and hold their own against more experienced schools. The wrestling team competed until the end, when they pinned their last opponent in the mid-90s. Wrestling is still offered as an individual sport when there is interest from students. While the sport’s time as a team sport at Seven Hills was brief, the athletes who competed on the mat for Seven Hills will remember the commitment and discipline they learned during their time on the team forever.

The Seven Hills community is saddened by the loss of our longtime friend of the school Marjorie Wood Drackett L’34 H’40, who passed away at her home in Naples, Florida, on May 12, just one month shy of her 101st birthday.

Marjorie pursued many projects stemming from her love of flowers and gardening, including initiating a greenery program at the Cincinnati Art Museum, placing live plants throughout the museum and decorating the period rooms for the holiday season. She was a member and officer of the Junior League of Cincinnati Garden Club and the Indian Hill Garden Club.

Born in Cincinnati, Marjorie attended Lotspeich School in the 1920s and 1930s and then graduated in 1940 from the allgirls Hillsdale School. She was a graduate from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In a conversation with our Director of Development Margo Kirstein a few years ago, Marjorie reflected upon her vivid memories of her time at both Lotspeich and Hillsdale schools. “First of all,” she said as they began their conversation, “I loved Hillsdale. I just loved that school.” Prior to attending the all-girls Hillsdale School, Marjorie was a student at Lotspeich in the late 1920s and early 1930s, under the school’s founder, Mrs. Helen Lotspeich, whom she remembered as an imposing person and very much at the helm of her school.

Throughout her long life, Marjorie never missed an opportunity to gather with friends and family and was known to be happy wherever she was. She and her husband of 65 years, Chuck Drackett, shared a life filled with love for their farm in Indiana, summers in northern Michigan, and winters in Naples after retirement, many hobbies, and, most importantly, time spent with their family and friends. She was known to say that the best thing she and Chuck ever did was raise their two children.

Marjorie is survived by her children Anne Drackett Thomas H’66 (Eddie) and Kim Drackett (Susan Gurganus L’63); her four grandchildren Elizabeth Garber Daniels, Tom Garber ’96, Chris Drackett ’00, and Nate Drackett ’02; her four great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews, including Cecile Drackett Allyn H’56 and Sallie Drackett Van Rensselaer H’58, who graduated from Hillsdale.

Seven Hills is forever grateful to Marjorie for her unwavering, decades-long friendship and support for the school. Her legacy of generosity has and will continue to create exceptional learning experiences and world-class facilities for generations of students to come.