Jack Gause (right) and Grant NelsonSt. Cloud State University mourns the recent passing of Jack Gause, who helped establish the Huskies' wresting program as the team's first head coach in 1949-50.
A U.S. Navy veteran, commercial diver and a longtime wrestling coach and official, Gause was born in 1930 in Portland, Oregon. He moved to Minneapolis in 1931 and later moved to Robbinsdale in 1939. He attended St. Cloud State from 1949-50 and coached the Huskies' first wrestling team that season. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and later returned to SCSU and obtained a master's degree.
Gause went on to teach math and coach wrestling at Columbia Heights High School. In addition to his teaching and coaching duties, Gause became involved with the international officiating of wrestling. In 1970, Gause was made the head of officials for the United States AAU program and from 1970 to 1976, Gause officated the Pan-American games and four World Cups. He also refereed seven World Tournaments and the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
A longtime resident of Plymouth, Minn., Gause was inducted into the SCSU Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009. The SCSU Wrestling Hall of Fame is named in the honor of Jack Gause and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Minnesota Chapter in 2015. The award presented to the wrestler with the most pins at the annual Husky Open tournament at SCSU is also named in honor in Gause.
A celebtation of Gause's life will be held on Thursday, July 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Plymouth Creek Center (14800 34th Avenue N. Plymouth, MN . 55447).
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