Hagen vs. Taylor: 185-pound Jim Hagen (left)takes on 400-plus Chris Taylor of Iowa State in a dual match in the winter of 1972 before a record crowd of 12,000 at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.
Taylor won by a decision in 1972 in the first of three meetings.
The Iowa State heavyweight would go on to win NCAA titles in 1972 and 1973, beating Hagen in the 1973 finals.
Taylor won a Southern Open title held in Chattanooga in Dec., 1971.
It’s the 1973 NCAA Finals and Oregon State heavyweight Jim Hagen meets an old nemesis in his final collegiate match.
Across the circle, stands King Kong in wrestling tights … Hulk Hogan and Gorilla Monsoon rolled into one.
It is 400-plus pound Chris Taylor – the Iowa State defending NCAA heavyweight champion and 1972 Olympic bronze medalist against Hagen –
the 185-pound, three-time Pac-8 champion and two-time All-American.
“Since I usually wrestled bigger and heavier guys than me, it was all about mechanics and having a plan to counter the weight difference,” said Hagen. “My strategy with Chris was to move him around, get him frustrated and get him tired.
“I did a pretty good job against him in our two dual matches (losing by decision both times in 1972 (in Corvallis which drew 12,000) and 1973 (in Ames), but in the NCAA finals I made a mistake and was under him and couldn’t get away, getting pinned in the second period,” stated Hagen who has a wrestling connection to Chattanooga through his brother, Ken, and nephew, J.T.
While Jim was earning All-American honors at OSU in 1972 and 1973, Ken had been a two-time college division All-American at Seattle Pacific University, placing sixth in 1970 (158 pounds) and fourth in 1971 (167 pounds).
They both wrestled in the NCAA University (D-I) Division Championship in 1971 – Ken at 167 and Jim at heavyweight – but neither medaled.
Ken’s son, J.T., was a three-time state champion at McCallie School and then wrestled two seasons at Cornell (2001, 2003) and was 24-16.
OSU Heavyweights: Wrestling for coach Dale Thomas (1957-90), Hagen was part of a long line of OSU heavyweight All-Americans.
John Witte started the heavyweight tradition at OSU with an NCAA runner-up finish in 1952, as six different big guys earned All-American honors wrestling for coach Thomas, including NCAA champions Jess Lewis(1969-70), Larry Bielenberg (1975, 4x all-American) and Howard Harris (1980, 4x All-American).
“And the current Oregon State heavyweight (Clayton Jack) is a good one too and should do well next week at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga,” Hagen stated.
Jack is the second seed at 285, while Minnesota’s Anthony Nelson is the top seed in the Southern Scuffle which is set for Jan.1-2 at McKenzie Arena.
Jack’s teammate Michael Mangrum (Jr.) is the top seed at 141 for the Scuffle and No.4 in the nation, R.J. Pena (So., 157) is seeded third for the Scuffle and No.14 nationally, while Taylor Meeks (Fr.,197) is No.15 in the nation.
Match-up with UTC: Jack opens with Anthony Fulk (Duke) in a round of 32 match Sunday morning and could face Chattanooga’s Kevin Malone in the round of 16 if both win their opening matches. Malone opens with Ethan Hayes (Virginia).
Jack is currently ranked fourth in the nation and Nelson is seventh. Eighth-ranked Cameron Wade (Penn State) is the third seed and in Jack’s half of the bracket, while No.5 Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) is the fourth seed and could faces Nelson in the semis.
While Jack won’t face anyone weighing more than 285 this season, Jim Hagen did so, on a regular basis for the Beavers four decades ago.
“I was good at getting away from the big guys for the one point escape and was able to handle guys about 300 pounds, but wrestling Taylor was different and tricky,” stated Hagen who was coached by a pair of national hall of fame coaches in coach Thomas at OSU and coach Russ Thurman at Crook County (Prinevlle, Ore.) High School.
“Coach Thomas was very good at teaching us body position and how to control our opponents.”
Coaching Legend: Thomas taught his wrestlers so well that they won an NCAA record 616 dual matches during his 34 years sitting mat side for the Beavers who placed in the top 10 at the NCAA championship on 14 occasions during a 21-year span for Thomas, including 4th (1971), 6th (1972) and 2nd (1973) while Hagen was on the team.
1973 Tourney Wins: In his run to the 1973 finals, Hagen beat some tough opponents in Bob Walker (Alabama, 8-0), Jim Waschek (Iowa, by fall) and Charlie Getty (Penn State), 5-3, in the quarterfinals and Gary Ernst (Michigan), 6-4, in the semis.
Walker won multiple national AAU titles, was an SEC champ and was fifth at the Greco-Roman World Championship in 1972 and later wrestled for Athletes in Action.
Getty (5th in 1973) was a two-sport All-American (football, wrestling) for the Nittany Lions and played 10 years in the National Football League, while Ernst was a two-time wrestling All-American (4th in 1973, 2nd in 1974).
“In our match at Iowa State earlier in the 1972-73 season, I almost brought Chris to a knee with an arm drag in attempt to take him down, but he was able to grab me by the arm and literally threw me across the mat to the delight of the Iowa State fans,” Hagen stated.
“Iowa State had the largest mat allowed by the NCAA, close to 40 feet wide, and Chris used just about all of that in tossing me in the air.”
Prior to college, the Hagen brothers were state runners-up in folkstyle and state champs in freestyle at Crook County H.S. under coach Thurman, a member of the Oregon chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“Russ was a coaching legend at Crook County as we had about 240 boys in our school and all but maybe 10 went out for wrestling,” stated Hagen, who was a member of the 1969 state championship wrestling team and was all-state in football.
“That’s how important the sport was to our school. If God ever put a good guy on this earth, coach Thurman was the guy. He made a difference in people’s lives.”
Thurman’s influence on Hagen is evident, in part, by his All-American career at OSU.
Hagen hopes that past Oregon State wrestling success has had an influence on the likes of Jack, Mangrum, Pena, Meeks and other current Beaver wrestlers and will be apparent by their success by tourney’s end.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net