During the 1974-75 season, we traveled to face Pitt, in the fieldhouse. During his bout, John Fritz was facing Georgie Bryant and found himself down 6-2, with 30 seconds left in the bout. I was in my usual, matside position, photographing the match (as I did from 1967-1995). At that point, John went out of bounds, right in front of me. We were no more than two feet away. As always, I was into the match, for other than just photographic purposes.
I used an expletive, explaining, to John, that the score was 6-2 and there were only 30 seconds left, in the bout. I feel that I shocked him back to reality! During the next 30 seconds, John scored three takedowns, to tie the score at 8-8. There was no overtime, in those days.
Naturally, I had followed John through his entire career, which culminated him winning the NCAA title, as a senior. The Pitt match, and many others, indicated to me that John may be one of the very best wrestlers on his feet, scoring takedowns, that I witnessed, over the years.
Dr. Marshall L. Goldstein
