4-12-48 Wager Wins Mumby A Life Career by Arnold Wechter A 25 cent bet started E.W. "Ted" Mumby, Spartan wrestling coach, on a life-long career of wrestling and instruction. It happened while Mumby was a student at the University of Indiana. There he me an over-weight student, or to use Mumby's words, "A fat slob," who challenged Mumby that he could throw him with five minutes. Ted took the bet and proceeded to win it. The story didn't end there. Watching the match was a student, a member of the college wrestling team, who asked Mumby to practice with him. He agreed and the next thing Mumby he had received three broken ribs, but the spell had been cast and he has been in the sport since. "Professional wrestling has held back the popularity of collegiate wrestling," Mumby says. He went on to explain that the propaganda spread by the pros and disgusted intelligent people with grappling. "The public looks on pro and amateur wrestling in the same light. Nothing is more untrue," he stated. "Why, the public and press even pronounce the word wrestling wrong nowadays. They say 'rasslin' instead," stated Mumby. The brutal show put on by the professional wrestler bears little resemblance to modern amateur wrestling, he explained. Mumby, who was quite implicit with his disgust with the pro grunt and groaners, said the average pro isn't a wrestler, but a dramatist. "I know of a few cases, very few, where a professional was at one time a good amateur wrestler," Ted said. In certain eastern states, Iowa and Oklahoma and others, college wrestling is more popular than either basketball or football, he stated. I plan to introduce wrestling to more SJS students by having matches presented along with basketball games and boxing shows. Once the students understand and watch the game they will become enthusiastic over it. Why crowds at the college wrestling matches have increased 25% this year over last," Mumby stated. Mumby was born in Michigan, raised in Indiana, and spent a great part of his life in India. Upon his graduation from Indiana, he left for a position in the north central provinces of India as an instructor at the Lucknow Junior College. While in India he taught wrestling and swimming. "There is no difference in the youth of India and elsewhere, except customs," Mumby said. After twenty years at Lucknow, Mumby returned to America and attended Stanford. He received a degree in physical education and stayed on there as coach of wrestling and swimming. Two years ago he came to SJS, which he describes as the finest place in the world. Mumby is married and has three children, two boys, one a senior at Stanford, the other a senior at Berkeley, and a girl in junior high school. His wife is a doctor with a practice in Palo Alto.