John Bowlsby

2015 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

Lessons learned through a long and storied wrestling career have served West Waterloo’s John Bowlsby well over the years.

“John and Ben Peterson and Dan (Gable) used me as a punching bag when I was young,” recalls the three-time All-American and two-time state champion.

“I learned very early on that I had to work for it and keep working at it. I mirrored them, and it worked.”

It worked so well that Bowlsby became the second high school wrestler ever to make the U.S. Junior World Team. “You could be 20 years old back then, and I was a sophomore in high school. I made it to the finals and beat a 20-year-old who I’m sure didn’t take anyone that young too seriously.”

As a high school student, Bowlsby went unbeaten his junior and senior years as a small 220-pounder in the then-unlimited weight class. “I don’t actually know my records from high school when I went unbeaten, but I remember my two losses as a sophomore,” he added.

It was his freestyle prowess that set him apart from others in high school. Bowlsby was a four-time state freestyle champion; 1972 Regional Olympic Trials Champion – Orono, MN; member of the 1972 Olympic Training Camp – Minneapolis, MN; U.S. Junior World Team (Freestyle) 1972 – Miami, FL; U.S. Junior World Team (Freestyle) 1974 – Sofia, Bulgaria; USWF National Champion (Freestyle) 1974; USWF National Champion (Greco) 1974; U.S. Senior World Team, 220 lbs., 1974 – Istanbul, Turkey.

That success continued at the University of Iowa, where Bowlsby was a three-time All-American, a three-time Iowa co-captain, and a two-time Big Ten champion. In his five years with Coach Dan Gable, the Iowa squad won four NCAA team titles. He also continued in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and was the 1977 USWF National Freestyle Champion and the 1997 USWF National Greco Champion. Those titles enabled him to travel and represent the nation in Sofia, Bulgaria; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Havana, Cuba.

“I’m disappointed that I was never an NCAA champion. But I developed other interests in college, and they weren’t bad decisions. In the long run, they’ve served me well,” Bowlsby admitted. “Wrestling taught me how to stay tough, set goals, and work toward those goals,” he added, noting that he has hired many wrestlers in the companies he and Minnesota wrestler Larry Zilverberg run.

Gable was recently quoted as saying he didn’t do a good job of keeping Bowlsby excited about wrestling, and that it may have cost Bowlsby an NCAA championship. Bowlsby was quick to defend Gable. “He’s an athlete’s coach. I don’t think that was the case.”

Bowlsby was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 along with Ken Snyder, Lee Fullhart, and Daryl Weber.