2 thoughts on “John J Harris Invitational – Ranked Teams And Wrestlers”

1. That was awesome Jeffrey Cook. Thank you for sharing. Coach Harris made you want to be better. A better athlete. A smarter person. A better person. And he could pull it out of people time and time again.
   -Tony King

   Corning Class of 1985, 3rd place finish at the Red Raider, 3rd place at state in 1985.

2. My hometown – not only volunteered as a towel boy from 1969-72, but also wrestled in the Tourney (graduated in 1976). John Harris was my Wrestling and Baseball Coach. He was also our Athletic Director. He coached the Cook boys from 1960 until I graduated in 76 (youngest of 7; 5 boys and 2 girls). Two brothers were Tournament Champions (one of the two a 3x Champ). Corning was in the Hawkeye 7 Conference (Creston, Clarinda, Corning, Atlantic, Shenandoah, Red Oak and Glenwood) until fall 1969 when we moved from the H7 to the Tall Corn Conference (Bedford, Corning, East Union, Greenfield. Lenox, Mount Ayr and Villisca). The Tournament, which was the first-ever 16-Team Tournament in Iowa, was held at the Corning Armory (“Red Bulls”) until the new Athletic Complex opened in 1990. Coach Harris passed away at the age of 79 in 2009. He is the only Corning resident to have been inducted in the Iowa Coaches Hall of Fame and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. On off-nights for Corning Wrestling, he officiated as many as 40 dual meets a year in Southern Iowa. He is also a member of the Iowa Officiating Hall of Fame.

   He was a great man, a wonderful mentor – and a teddy bear. His favorite phrase for his boys – when we were loafing – was “you’re a bunch of candy a**es!” When I broke my right arm in the 4th play of our 3rd Football Game of the fall 75 Season (beginning of my Senior Year – we were playing St. Albert’s of Council Bluffs), he was the first one to tend to me as I lay on the turf. He placed his big right hand over my break so I wouldn’t see it; it was a compound fracture. He stepped away from his Offensive Line Coaching responsibilities and accompanied me to Rosary Hospital in Corning. I was his starting Left Guard, all 5’7″ and 150lbs. He taught me to be fierce (I had to be growing up in a prominent wrestling family; I began competitive wrestling in fall 1963 when I was 5; he taught me everything I know/knew). The compound fracture ended all hopes of competitive wrestling my final year of high school. During my recovery, he came by the house many times just to talk. He made me an Honorary Captain for the 75-76 Wrestling Season.

   I learned sportsmanship and the US Constitution from him (he taught Government – a Class only for Seniors). I will never forget him, and I’ll never forget his affinity for VW Bugs. He and his wife/kids had the only Bugs in town, and they went everywhere in them.

   He was more than a man; he is legendary. Thank you.

   Kindest Regards,

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