MAC Phillip Neer
With coaching from "Terrible Ted" Thye, wrestlers led club sports in the 1920s. From local matches in the smoke-filled Heilig Theatre to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, MAAC matmen racked up local, regional and national championships, and brought home Olympic medals.
Robin Reed took up wrestling in high school to escape calisthenics, and at 18 won his first national title in the 125-pound division. With several Oregon Open, PNA and Pacific Coast championships from 1921 to 1924, he prevailed in the featherweight finals match of the 1924 Olympics against teammate
Chester "Chet'' Newton at 134 112 pounds. The two were forced to face each other when one failed to make his usual weight class. The gold-silver finish of these friends earned a story in Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Newton kept teammate Robert Kruse from a shot at the Olympic Games entirely, challenging the 192-pound wrestler in his weight class during a qualifying match. It was widely believed that Kruse, who had earned state and national championships, would have taken a medal had he reached Paris. One former MAAC wrestler, Russell Vis, did take a gold. Vis, who trained eight years at MAAC until1920 under Eddie O'Connell, won in the lightweight class. He wore Los Angeles Athletic Club colors, though, since he was attending college in the area.
Cyril Mitchell and Ben Sherman dominated MAAC wrestling after the 1924 Olym-
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Tommy O'Brien
Ben Sherman