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Bob Siddens coached wrestling at Waterloo West High School from 1950 to 1977, compiling a 327-26-3 record. His first team won the first of 11 states titles in 1950. He coached nine individual NCAA champions and Olympic champion Dan Gable. His name is legendary in the wrestling world even today. The gymnasium at West High is named in his honor, and many of his former athletes still keep in touch with him, so great is their respect for their former coach.
My phone rang a few days after I had asked Coach Siddens to write the regular Chalk Talk column.
“I’m not a good writer, and I hope I’m not causing you too much extra work or inconvenience. I thought we could meet and talk.”
The next morning, the legendary coach held my hand in both of his.
“I brought you some cookies that my daughter, Kara, bakes.”
That showed me the reason for his unprecedented success—he touches lives and makes you a part of his family.
“The man is too humble,” informed one of his former wrestlers. So, here is his story, humble and remarkable.
I was born in Council Bluffs. My dad was a baker. When I was in the 6th grade, we moved to Eagle Grove. I had never heard of wrestling before then.
My twin brother and I became the managers for the wrestling team in 7th grade. After practices we’d wrestle around on the mats with some of the fellows.
I started wrestling in 9th grade at the 85 lb. weight class. That was the last year for that weight. I’d go into my dad’s bakery and get on top of the oven to sweat and lose weight.
After high school, I went into the Air Corp, and my folks moved to Fort Dodge. I trained to be a radio gunner on the B17 and B24. I was set to go to Japan when we dropped the bomb. I always felt a little guilty that I never got to go into action, but my parents were happy. I had an older brother that was killed in the service. I played guard and linebacker for the Army team, the Ellington Field Ramblers, at 170 pounds.
When I came out of the Air Corp, I was going to go to Iowa to be a dentist, but I got sidetracked. I went to Fort Dodge Junior College and played football from 1946-47. The Iowa State Teachers College football team was on their way to play North Dakota and stopped by Fort Dodge to scrimmage. Buck Starbuck, the football coach at ISTC, talked me into coming to play for him.
Dave McCuskey was the wrestling coach when I wrestled at ISTC. I was involved with some wonderful wrestlers there—LeRoy Ellis, Bill Koll, Finn Erickson, who all went on to be great coaches. Ellis coached at West Point. Koll was a military hero and went to the University of Chicago, then ended up at Penn State. Finn Erickson hired me at West High. Bill Nelson was a three-time national champion. I beat him in high school but he beat the crap out of me in college. Keith Young, the best he ever finished in high school was third place in districts, but he was undefeated in college.
In 1949, all the GI’s were getting out of college so I thought I’d better get done and find a job. I coached one year at Eagle Grove. I had a wonderful time there. I brought my team over for a tournament at the YMCA in Waterloo. Don Blau, a football line coach from West High, came up to me and said Finn Erickson had sent him to talk to me about the West High wrestling coaching opening. I thought they would offer it to one of the other fellows from our ISTC team. I talked to myself and with others and decided to take it.
I was associated with so many fine people through the years. Back then, you didn’t just coach one sport. I assisted with the football team, coached tennis and was the guidance counselor. After a few years, I asked Bill Layne if he would like to take over the tennis team. I just handed it over to him.
I’d always run from West High with the football team down to the practice field on Baltimore. One day after practice, Bill Layne, who was much younger than I was, challenged me to walk on our hands across the football field. Bill walked almost halfway. I went almost the whole length of the field. Don Blau started calling me “Burley Bob” from that day on. My wrestlers called me that, too, but never to my face. We used to have a drink after practice, a combination of Mountain Dew and lemonade the guys called “Burley Juice”.
I always told my lads, I still think of them all as lads, “Be mean and tough on the mat, but always be a gentleman off the mat.”
Once Dave Natvig from East High called me to report some things he had heard about my wrestlers. I called them in and said, “Gentlemen, I don’t believe anything I hear and half of what I see. If I continue to hear things about you, you will be off the team.” I also told Dave, “I appreciate your concern but I think you might have your hands full with your own fellows.” Dave and I were much better friends after he retired.
The best all-round athletes I saw at West (Editor’s Note: Siddens became the Athletic Director in the late 1960s), there were so many. Jim Berry was an outstanding athlete. I tried to get him to come out for wrestling. He came down to the wrestling room after practice one day. I had a wrestler, Larry Moser, at 103 pounds. Berry took him on and Moser cleaned up on him. Berry said, “I don’t want any part of this if this little guy can beat me!”
Bob Landau, who is a retired dentist and lives at Clear Lake, he was a great athlete. He played football with Don Perkins who went on to play in the NFL. Bob was an outstanding baseball player and a wrestler.
The meanest, toughest guy was Bruce Wilson, he’s the guy I’d want to have on my side in a street fight. He called me recently and said, “Coach, you’d be proud of me. I’m a born-again Christian.” I’ve had seven or eight of my guys call me and say that.
Daniel (Gable) wasn’t the most God-gifted athlete, but he was so intense and hard working. Tom and Terry Brands get that from him. Dale Anderson was the most competitive, it didn’t matter if it was tiddlywinks or table tennis. The most God-gifted athlete I ever saw was Cale Sanderson when I was refereeing the NCAA championships.
People always ask me, “You were Gable’s coach, weren’t you?” I was fortunate to have that young man around. I’m very proud of his record and his coaching, but I remember him as a young, red-haired crew-cut lad in my wrestling room. I was really so fortunate to have worked around so many great young lads.
I was over at West High recently with (Athletic Director) Jeff Frost. The weight rooms they have today…when I started coaching we didn’t have weights. I had to make my own. I told Jeff, “I hope these lads and lasses appreciate what they have here.” The important thing for parents, teachers now is to teach young people to show appreciation, respect and responsibility. When my six children would come to me, I’d tell them to always appreciate what they had. I’d say, “You can have anything I can give you as long as you appreciate it.”
I’m glad I didn’t go into dentistry. I don’t think I could work in someone’s mouth all day.
Last year, a few of my former wrestlers put together a birthday lunch for my 84th birthday. There were 35 young lads that showed up. During the lunch, I got calls from Bob Bowlsby from Stanford, John Bowlsby from Minnesota, Dale Anderson from Crystal Lake, Ill., Tom Huff from Texas. Bob Fouts from California called and said, “Coach, I didn’t like college wrestling, but I sure did love wrestling with you at West High.”
I’m going on 85. The five most important things in my life are my family, my faith, my health, my friends and my memories. I didn’t mention money because I never made a lot of money. My dad always said, “Bobby, getting old ain’t for sissies.” I know now what he meant, but I still swim 50 to 60 minutes several times a week at the Y.
I’d just want all of my young lads to know how much I love them, the strong feelings I have for them. They gave me much more than I ever gave them.
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