Chris Taylor

[CrossCyed]

Any older Cyclone fans remember this wrestler? I've been looking at some information about him...quite the story...

[Cydar]

Any older Cyclone fans remember this wrestler? I've been looking at some information about him...quite the story...

I guy I see at the gym remembers when Chris was a bouncer. I'll have to ask him about that.

My guess is that when Chris asked someone to leave there was no discussion...

[JonDMiller]

Oh yes, I remember hearing of him. A mountain of a man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Taylor_(wrestler)

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...RTS11/50710012

http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBio..._olympics.html

[theshadow]

Go to the Vault at si.com and search for his name. There are at least two articles from the 1971-73 era about him.

Could lift 200 pounds overhead with one hand. Once beat a guy 32-6 because he liked him and didn't want to pin him.

[JunoSosa]

I thought he was interesting too, so I posted about it a while back. (Iconic Cyclones, PART TWO (ISU's own Andre the Giant, etc.))

[majorcyfan]

Any older Cyclone fans remember this wrestler? I've been looking at some information about him...quite the story...

I was getting a haircut at the west street barber back in 1970 or 71 don't remember. The barber was telling me about this huge heavyweight wrestler who was transferring to ISU....as I recall he was a JC transfer.

Later watched him wrestle for ISU, along with Gable and Chuck Jean.

I have a framed 1972-73 wrestling poster, showing Chris holding up Hilton Coliseum between his outstretched hands.
He was very fast on his feet for his size...If he took you down to the mat when you were standing up position, call for an ambulance immediately cause his body slam and 400 lbs were lethal to everyone he took down.
He was a gentle giant of a man who drank pitchers of beer like I drank a mug. He got Phlebitis in his legs when on the pro circuit and died of heart attack. Bio says heart attack but prob the combination of Phlebitis and liver problems caused a heart attack.
I saw him wrestle as a pro in Hilton also.
His widow and daughter lived in Story City at the time of his death, thinking Chris worked part time as a deputy for Story City. Bio says he was single at the time of his death, but know he had a wife and a child.

Believe it or not, there were 24 wrestling meet dates on that poster. Three or four times with back to back major meets in 2 days, home and away. Colorado had a wrestling team back then, don't think they do now.

[Cydar]

Here's some info on his professional wrestling career:

Wrestler: Chris Taylor Real Name: Chris Taylor Birthday: June 13, 1950 Hometown: Dowagiac, Michigan Marital Status: Single (at time of death) Height & Weight: 6'5" / 412 lbs Trained by: Verne Gagne
Billy Robinson Debut: 1974 vs Rene Goulet Previous Gimmicks:
Finishing Move: Bearhug Favorite Moves:
Notable Feuds: Aleksandr Medved
Bronze Medal In Freestyle Wrestling (8/30/72 - Olympics - Munich Germany);
1973: Chris Taylor began wrestling professionally and briefly teamed with fellow olympian Ken Patera..
????: Chris Taylor won a big 2-ring battle royal while working in the American Wrestling Association..
1977: Chris Taylor was forced into retirement due to serious illnes..
June 30, 1979: Chris Taylor (age 29) died of a heart attack in Story City, Iowa..

[Phaedrus]

My parents-in law have a picture of my wife being held by Chris. She looked like a little doll in his hands....

[CyForPresident]

I have a framed 1972-73 wrestling poster, showing Chris holding up Hilton Coliseum between his outstretched hands.

PLEASE, PLEASE post a picture of that poster. I have been looking for that poster for a while.

[coachdags]

Any older Cyclone fans remember this wrestler? I've been looking at some information about him...quite the story...

We had a discussion about Chris about a year ago.....I used to be a ring second for the AWA, back in Denver.....had the pleasure of walking Chris to the ring back in the day, he was a gentle Giant of a man.....

[Dryburn]

I remember when Chris first appeared on campus. A big deal was made about the fact that there was no "normal" scale on campus large enough to weigh him so they took him to the meat lab and weighed him there. I think there was a story in the Daily back then about it.

Not sure if they still do it today, but back in those days there were actually some of the cheerleaders at wrestling meets. When Chris wrestled, sooner or later he would get the opposing wrestler into a pin position and Chris would sometimes look to the cheerleaders for a thumbs down signal before he pinned him.

There also was a famous photo of him holding two little kids, Cyclone fans, one in the palm of each hand.

One other instance I remember was one match where the other wrestler got in on a single leg with Chris, but then he couldn't lift the leg. The wrestler looked up at the ref who just held out his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

Chris was fun to watch.

[Rex O Herlihan]

Chris was fun to watch.[/quote]

When Chris walked on to the mat, the crowd went crazy. We all stood and cheered until he pinned the opponent. Usually in the first period.

[IsUaClone2]

Once I saw Chris warming up for his match when a small boy with a yoyo came by to talk to him. Chris started trying to make the yoyo work rather than continue warm up and really entertained the kid. Sometimes it didn't make a difference because if the opposing team wasn't in a position to win, they would often forfeit the heavyweight match causing a massive round of boos from the audience who came to see Chris wrestle.

Chris always wore short sleeves and did not wear a coat even in winter. He did try to be like every athlete so he would only take one towel instead of two and he would wedge himself into a coach seat rather than sit in a larger first class seat when the team traveled.

Chris did like to help ISU and it's teams. He went out for football with Johnnny Majors. He never saw the field because they couldn't find a helmet large enough to fit him. Tightend Keith Krefle (later played for the Philadelphia Eagles) put on Chris' shoulder pads to show us how large they were. They were so large that even Keith could not keep them on his shoulders. Majors said he would have played on the offensive line and that he was best on pass protection because no one could get around him. He was less effective on run blocking because he moved laterally a lot better than he charged straight ahead. Chris also tried to help the fledgling hockey team. They played in Hilton at the time but crowds were sparse. They invited Chris to play broomball against the cheerleaders during the intermissions. They did get a big crowd for that. It was hilarious seeing Chris with those cheerleaders buzzing around him.

[SLCyclone]

I went to South Hamilton High School in Jewell. I think it was 1972 when we got our first Universal weight machine. Chris Taylor was one of the people that delivered it to the school. Chris lifted one side of the machine and three or four of us high school kids lifted the other to set it in place. He was a big, strong man!

[ozone]

My most vivid memory of Chris was at Genuine John's. He would drink beer from a pitcher in his hand like normal people would hold a mug. He was a very gentle person for his size. We crossed paths several times.