Alan Rice: Greco-Roman wrestling legend recalls historic Olympics
By Pat Borzi | 04/20/12
Caleb Williams/Caleb Williams Photography
Alan Rice, shown in 2010: "We didn’t know much afterwards because there was a news blackout over Munich."
Even at 83, Alan Rice still looks like he could throw somebody across a wrestling ring. His forearms bulge like a construction worker’s, yet he shakes hands gently and shows off his dexterity on the brown, weathered baby-grand piano in his St. Paul living room. Built by the Schaff Bros. Co., the piano might be even older than Rice. The company went out of business during World War II.
“I enjoy the music of my youth,” said Rice, the godfather of Greco-Roman wrestling in Minnesota. “It means I play things that nobody knows – George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen. They were the good ones.”
With that, Rice pulled out a book of sheet music and played a few bars of something from his adulthood – “What I Did for Love,” from the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line,” with lyrics by Edward Kleban and music by Marvin Hamlisch. It sounded wonderful, yet Rice quickly stopped. “That’s terrible,” he said. “But I get to hear the music of my youth.”
Rice’s youth also included a fascination with Greco-Roman wrestling. That took him to Melbourne to compete in the 1956 Olympics, and later to Munich as coach of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team. Rice passed on his passion to generations of Minnesota wrestlers, fostering a tradition that exists to this day.
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A wrestler supported by the Minnesota Wrestling Club has represented the United States on every U.S. Olympic team and almost every World and Pan-American Games team since 1968 – a run unequalled by any club in the United States. The Club's wrestlers have won medals in all these Games, and many NCAA medals and championships.
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