Date: 12/09/2014
Entity: IndianaMat
Type: Power Poll
Class: All
1.
Penn
2.
Perry Meridian
3.
Yorktown
4.
Merrillville
5.
Hamilton Southeastern
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Ask any Indiana high school wrestlers from the 1950's what the greatest rivalry between two grapplers was and they will likely point you to the heavyweight match-ups between Vernon Rohr of Lafayette Jefferson and Bill Trainer of Evansville Mater Dei. The following contains excerpts from "We are MD...A History of Mater Dei Wrestling" and conversations I had with Vernon Rohr.
Entering the 1953 State Championship, Mater Dei coach, Gus Peters, was concerned about the readiness of Bill Trainer. Trainer was undefeated entering the State Meet, and had only been pushed a couple of times. Consequently, Coach Gus Peters was concerned about Trainer’s mental and physical toughness. Trainer’s first round opponent was Tony Corrado of Howe Military Academy. Trainer won, 8-0. In the round of four, Trainer advanced to the final by virtue of a 6-0 win over Kokomo’s Blaine Merrell.
Trainer’s title opponent, Vernon Rohr of Lafayette Jefferson, was also undefeated. The pair was amazingly similar in physique. Rohr tipped the scales at 192 pounds, only giving him a two-pound advantage over Trainer.
“I wore 32-inch waist pants,” said Vernon Rohr. “I was all upper body and legs. We (Trainer and Rohr) were mirror images.”
The two were the smallest heavyweights in the field. Rohr had redemption on his mind. In 1952, as a sophomore, Rohr contracted pneumonia. Rohr’s doctor advised against wrestling and gave him a shot of penicillin. His physical state diminished, Rohr entered the sectional and managed to advance to the final against Crawfordsville’s Keith Stephens, but lost by decision. Stephens proceeded to place third at the State Meet. Rohr had an uncle who resided in Bloomington and attended the sectional to scout his potential opponents.
“He called me and said ‘This Trainer kid is really good,’” said Rohr. “I had never heard of Evansville Mater Dei. How good could they be?”
Moments before the match, Trainer was extremely nervous.
“I feel shaky and weak,” said Trainer to coach Gus Peters. “I’m not sure I can even wrestle.”
The title match was the closest of Trainer’s State Series tournament. The first period did not yield a score.
“Trainer was terrible on his feet,” said Rohr. “At that time, I was too. Trainer liked to tie up.”
Rohr won the toss and got on the scoreboard first with a reversal and rode Trainer most of the period before Trainer scored an escape before the buzzer to make it 2-1. Trainer chose down in the third period and promptly reversed Rohr, followed by a quick escape by Rohr.
With time winding down and the score knotted at 3-3, Lafayette Jeff’s coaches made a crucial error.
“They yelled ‘You’ve got him on riding time,’” said Rohr. “I stayed away and thought I had the match.”
The riding time was not counted, throwing the outcome to a referee’s decision. The head referee conferred with the two side judges. With tension mounting, the referee slowly walked back to the center of the mat, clasped each wrestler’s wrist and raised Trainer’s hand. A winner by referee’s decision, Bill Trainer became Mater Dei’s first State Champion.
“It was also a great moment for dad,” said Donald Peters, Gus’ son. “He was very proud of Trainer.”
It was a rough day for the Lafayette Jeff coaching staff.
“It was really tough on my coaches,” said Rohr. “They took it very hard.”
For Vernon Rohr, the loss triggered a 365-day march.
“From that night (the evening of the loss) on, I wrestled Trainer every night (in my mind),” Rohr said. “It was a mountain to climb. I had lost one match in two years, and it was on a referee’s decision.”
Rohr trained hard for the meeting.
“I didn’t get much competition my senior year,” he said. “Purdue’s wrestling coach, Claude Reek, contacted me and asked if I wanted to train with them. I worked on a lot of wrestling from my feet. A Purdue guy I trained with was the Big Ten champ that year. Another guy was runner-up in the NCAAs. From then on, no one could compete with me from my feet. That was the push I needed.”
Still stung over the crucial, 1953 coaching mistake, the Lafayette Jeff staff allowed no room for error.
“The night before the tournament,” said Rohr. “My coach called my mom and said ‘I’d like to have Vern come and spend the night with me, I don’t want him going out with his girl tonight.’ It didn’t happen. Mom made sure that I stayed at home.”
Lafayette Jefferson High School was packed for the State Championship on February 20. Bill Trainer opened his day with a 10-2 win over Smock of Broad Ripple. South Bend Central’s Ed Nailon fell to Trainer in the semifinal, 9-3.
Trainer's win guaranteed a rematch with Rohr, the most-anticipated one of the tournament. The State Champ against the runner-up—the pair having only produced a single loss between them in two seasons.
Rohr’s off-season work from his feet paid off, as he scored a quick, first period takedown and a third period reversal for a 4-1 win. It was Trainer’s first loss since his sophomore year.
“Dad was bitter about Trainer’s loss,” said Donald Peters, Gus’ son. “Bill had a girlfriend that he spent a lot of time with. Dad did not approve. He thought that you needed to stay home, go to bed early and train hard; there would be time for a girlfriend when the season was over.”
Author’s Notes: Calendar-wise, Bill Trainer’s winning streak is the second-longest in Mater Dei’s history. Had Trainer won the 1954 State Title, he would have equaled Matt Coughlin’s winning streak of two entire seasons. When Matt Coughlin’s hand was raised in 2005 at Indianapolis’ Conseco Field house, signifying his second consecutive State Championship, Trainer’s 51 year-old record was broken.
***
Trainer was recruited by many colleges, including Indiana University, to play football and wrestle. He opted to join the Marine Corps.
Having found only one person who attended the Trainer/Rohr match-ups, I felt compelled to learn a more complete accounting of one of Mater Dei’s greatest champions. As a result, Vernon Rohr was the only Mater Dei antagonist interviewed for this book. The effort to find and interview him was rewarded in spades. I called him, introduced myself and told him of my project. I asked him if he remembered a guy named Bill Trainer. The question was followed by a pregnant pause, then the reply: “You bet I do!” The 78-year-old Rohr lives with his wife in Greenwood, Indiana. I found him to be genial, gracious and an engaging storyteller.
The similarities between Rohr and Trainer are startling. Both were undersized heavyweights with huge hands and tremendous physical strength. Both were outstanding tackles on their respective football teams. Rohr was recruited to wrestle and play football at Notre Dame, Michigan, Purdue and Iowa. Like Trainer, he opted out of college. Neither Rohr nor Trainer produced any sons; in this category, Rohr possesses a slight edge. Rohr sired four daughters while Trainer claimed three.
Rohr eventually attended Purdue University and became a successful entrepreneur. In 2011, a granddaughter attending Lafayette Jeff High School called him.
“Grandpa!” she said excitedly. “You’re in the Hall of Fame.”
Unbeknownst to him, he had indeed been inducted into the Lafayette Jeff Athletic Hall of Fame. 60 years, or 22,000 days, have followed the Trainer/Rohr match-ups.
Bill Trainer is still on Vernon Rohr’s mind.
“A least once a week it happens,” said Rohr. “You know how when you go to bed and you are about half asleep? It comes to mind. When it happens, there is no getting back to sleep. I rehash it. It takes me about 30 minutes to wind down and go back to sleep.”
Rohr recalled to me, in splendid detail, his 1953 loss to Trainer. However, the minutia of his 1954 State Championship win over Bill Trainer is not part of his conscience. He was not even sure of the final score of his greatest victory. So goes the life of a wrestler…
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