UM-Duluth

By Brian Jerzak

You can take the wrestler out of the wrestling room, but . . .

As a senior in high school, Ron McClure placed fourth in the state tournament for Hopkins. A few years later as a senior at Minnesota-Duluth he would find himself in the Division II national title match. His second place finish would cap off a two-time All-American career and years later a place in the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame.

After nearly twenty straight years of constant wrestling, McClure needed to step away from the sport he loved, but not away from athletics. He found himself back in a gym coaching, but nowhere near a wrestling room. He spent nineteen years coaching girls' gymnastics, a sport – going into it – he knew very little about. McClure was able to become an effective gymnastic coach by leaning on his wrestling knowledge and learning how the two sports complement each other. After nearly twenty years coaching gymnastics, he decided to step away from that sport. Now McClure has come full circle. You can take the wrestler out of the wrestling room, but you can't take wrestling out of the wrestler.

If not for his mother, McClure might have ended up in the ring instead of the wrestling mat.