General | 9/29/2020 10:05:00 AM

WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg College Athletics Hall of Fame Committee announced the class of 2020 inductees in July – Hannah (Baker) Bombei (women's track & field), Dan Hammes (football), Andy Hodge (men's cross country/track & field), Katie (Rapp) Houston (women's soccer) Collin Lane (men's soccer), Dusty Rhodes (wrestling), Matt Scherbring (baseball), Ryan Sturm (wrestling), and Bob Wachholz (football/men's track & field).

Wartburg Sports Information will be taking a closer look into each Wartburg 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees and their accomplishments as a Knight. Bob Wachholz from Wausau, Wis. who competed in football and track and field during his time at the college in the mid 1960's. 

Bob Wachholz graduated from Wartburg in 1964 and earned eight letters as a football and track & field student-athlete for the Knights. Wachholz played wide receiver on the football team, earning All-Conference and NAIA All-District honors in 1962 after hauling in 27 receptions for 325 yards with three touchdowns. He also earned All-Conference and All-District awards the following season and was named Wartburg's Athlete of the Month in November of 1963. His track & field career was headlined by a third-place javelin throw at the 1964 national meet, setting a school record at the time with a throw of 206-feet, six-inches. A retired investment baker, Bob resides in Oswego, Ill. He and his wife, Barbara, who passed away in 2013, have eight children.

Q & A With Bob Wachholz

Q: What was your reaction when you found out you were being inducted? 
I was actually kind of surprised. It has been close to 55 years since I was at Wartburg, so it definitely came as a pleasant surprise. 

Q: What are some of your favorite memories from your time playing at Wartburg?
I played football but also threw the javelin. I came from northern Wisconsin and I was going to play football and baseball and back then when you were a freshman you had to take a physical test. In one of the tests you had to throw a softball and the guy doing my test was also the track coach. His name was Dave Olson. I had a really good arm and we threw the softball on the football field. We started at one end zone and I threw it down to the other end zone. Most guys were only throwing it 100-200 feet. Olson told me to come back afterwards because he wanted to show me something. He goes into the fieldhouse and comes back with a javelin and asked if I have ever seen one before. I said no but I ended up throwing the spear for four year and I had no idea what it was until I saw one that day. 

Q: Have you kept up with the football and track and field programs since you left? 
Actually I do, I've been watching the games the past couple of years. They have them now on the computer, so I've been watching a lot of the football games and also some of the basketball games. 

Q: What has life been like for you since leaving Wartburg? 
It has been hectic. I have had two different wives, eight kids and 16 grandkids. I was in the investment business in Chicago for 40 some years and I lived about 40 minutes outside of Chicago. I got up every morning around 4:45 a.m. and hopped on a train to get to downtown Chicago and got home around 5:30 p.m. So it was hectic but also enjoyable. I also taught school for a couple years after college in Hudson, Iowa just south of Waterloo. I taught physical education and coached football and wrestling. I was there for two years and realized that it was not my calling. 

Q: Who were some of the people at Wartburg that made your time memorable? 
The guy I confided with most was Dave Olson, he was the track coach at the time. Norm Johansen was the football coach and I think he had a big influence on my life during the four years. He was a real good coach. I had a minor in history and had a history professor that I will never forget by the name of Gerhard Ottersberg, he was a great guy. He kept my life interesting as far as history is concerned and he was very good at what he did. 

Q: What do you miss most about Wartburg and the football and track and field programs? 
I miss being 20-years old again, but we had a real good time. We built some relationships that will last a lifetime. There is a guy that lives in the Chicago area that I graduated with and he and I have lunch together once a month. My roommate for three years, Dave Van Ahn, still stay in touch. You kind of miss it all, we had a great time. I hate to say it but most of us were pretty clean-cut guys. I think everyone at some point in their lives, especially when you get up into my age, at some point you want to go back. After you work for 30 years you realize that your college days were pretty fun times.