MEAN GENE

[Gene Mills Fan]

Jordan Burroughs

I did a camp with Gene when I was in high school. It was at Eastern High in New Jersey. He was showing his half Nelson serious. He picked me out of the crowd of kids to show technique on. Naturally, I was excited because I’d heard how great of a wrestler he was. I thought I was lucky. Until he started showing moves. In his half series, he has this move where he rolls his chest over the face of his opponent to lock in their head and get the fall. Till this day, it is still the tightest pin hold I’ve ever been in. After he sent us all out to work on the move with our partners, I ran to the bathroom immediately to keep from crying. I thought my nose was broken. I was fine, and I finished the camp, but I’ll never forget that day. And although he almost killed me, I’m still a big Gene Mills fan till this day. Legend. 

Edited September 29 by Gene Mills Fan

[Gene Mills Fan]

At the 1981 World Cup the next year, Mills faced reigning Olympic gold medalist Anatoli Beloglazov. In the weeks leading up to the match, Mills couldn’t work out because he had prickly heat rash, a condition where skin feels as if its burning because sweat glands are blocked.

The night before he was supposed to weigh in for the match with Beloglazov, he tried to work out again. No heat rashes. Mills burned off 18 pounds in 12 hours. During that match, though, he kept tripping from exhaustion. Mills still won the match on a tiebreaker.

“I wrestled like dog crap,” Mills said 35 years later. After the match, Beloglazov waved his arm at the decision. Two weeks later, Mills faced Beloglazov again, beating him worse than before.

[Gene Mills Fan]

“I wanted to kill (President Carter),” Mills said. “Who the heck was he to take away my dreams I busted my ass for? I pinned everybody in the world and then I lost to a peanut farmer? Put me on the mat with him. See how he comes out of that. It was bad. I couldn’t think straight.”

[Gene Mills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Gene Mills Fan said:

Jordan Burroughs

 on the move with our partners, I ran to the bathroom immediately to keep from crying. I thought my nose was broken. I was fine, and I finished the camp, but I’ll never forget that day. And although he almost killed me, I’m still a big Gene Mills fan till this day. Legend. 

I guess I exaggerated a bit elsewhere!

[Gene Mills Fan]

"I’m most proud of that Tbilisi tournament in 1980 when I was able to beat everybody by 20 points before I pinned them, except for one opponent because they disqualified him for stalling in the second period. I’m also proud of my match with Joe Gonzales. He was the opponent I respected most. On any given day in 1979 it could have gone either way. I feel like I got so much better from that match. I never wanted to be in a match like that again. Not that I didn’t like coming from behind and winning, but I didn’t want anything close. I wanted to beat everyone by 20 before I pinned them. I wanted to score from everywhere at anytime and be dominant. I didn’t like decisions. When I had a decision I felt like I lost."

 

Edited September 29 by Gene Mills Fan

[Gene Mills Fan]

 

 

Gene Mills 1976 NJ State Finals      watch this video!   "every coach says no half nelsons from the knees" boys

Edited September 29 by Gene Mills Fan

[Gene Mills Fan]

Randy Lewis on Gene

 

I was the only collegiate wrestler at that time who had made both the world team and had won a NCAA title. While Mills was also a NCAA champion, he had not yet made a world team. I considered myself to be a better wrestler than Gene Mills.

What I saw from Gene Mills on this trip totally astounded me. “Mean Gene the Pinning Machine” as he became known, went on a tear. Wrestling at 114.5 pounds, Mills went 8-0 in the Tbilisi tournament, with 7 pins. In the finals, he was ahead 18-0 when they cautioned the Russian out of the match for stalling. I went 0-3 against the Russians and 5-0 against other foreigners on this trip.

Mills was pinning Russians right and left. How was he doing it, I asked myself? He was getting really psyched up before each match, saying I’m going to pin this Russian, I’m going to tear him up, nobody can go the distance with me.

I remember thinking, these are the Russians he is talking about, the best wrestlers in the world. How can he think he can pin them and beat them so easily? I thought, I am better than Gene, why is he pinning these Russians, and I am losing to them. And then it hit me.

Mills was pinning these Russians and I wasn’t for the simple reason that he believed he would pin them. I was thinking, these are the best wrestlers in the world, how can I beat them? After the tournament, I remember thinking that if Gene Mills can pin these Russians, then so can I.

[Gene Mills Fan]

 

[Gene Mills Fan]

The 1980 Tiblisi tournament was just months after the Iranian militants had seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran and Americans were still being held hostage there. The Iranian team marched at the Tiblisi tournament with a picture of the Ayatollah Khomeini. And Gene Mills couldn’t wait to wrestle.

“There was an American there who was an official and he said to me right before the match: ‘We should blow these suckers off the mat!’ and I said: ‘Yeah. You’re right.’ ” recalls Mills, now an assistant coach for the Orangemen.

Jordyn Woods & Karl-Anthony Towns Share Party Tips

 

 

 

Mills -a guy who can register more “tilts” than an old pinball machine- went out with fire in his eyes and the rule book somewhere back in the locker room. Way back, as a matter of fact.

“I was doing as much dirty, illegal stuff as possible,” admits Mills, a native of Pompton Lakes, N.J.. “And then the Iranian tried to bite my face when we were down on the mat. I went nuts.”

The score after one period had been 5-5. Then Mills preceeded to give the Iranian an unasked-for trim of his beard.

“After he tried to bite me, I had him down on the mat and my mouth was right by his beard. I started ripping out pieces of his beard with my teeth. I just kept ripping and spitting it out. It was a lot. Then I really went to town on the guy. It was great. I was beating him 27-5 or something when I pinned him.”

[Gene Mills Fan]

flowrestling

The Tbilisi Tournament & The Cold War

View All Gene Mills Pin2Win Camp 2012

Jul 13, 2012 by Ed Piccola

Click to unmute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0:38 / 7:05

Mean Gene Mills tell a great story about his experience with the Tbilisi Tournament.

[Gene Mills Fan]

Mills lifted his opponent’s head high. Slam, into the mat. This man should have been out cold.

Mills lifted his opponent’s head high. Slam, into the mat. This man’s neck should have snapped.

Mills lifted his opponent’s head high. Slam, into the mat. This time, though, Mills drove his opponent over his head and pinned him.

“I don’t know why the guy didn’t break his neck,” said Chris Campbell, a 1980 Olympic wrestling teammate of of Mills. “It was one of the most violent, horrific, ass-whoopings that I’ve ever seen.”

That “ass-whooping” was one of many in a long line of them for Mills and there should have been more. In 1980, Mills pinned all but one opponent in the Tbilisi tournament, a wrestling contest as tough or tougher than the Olympics. That match was called after Mills’ opponent stalled too many times.

“There was a time where he may have become the greatest, most dominant wrestler that ever lived,” said Mark Schultz, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist.

[Gene Mills Fan]

https://genemills.com/s/GM-uncrowned_king.pdf

[Gene Mills Fan]

Collegiate Achievements

Two-time NCAA Division I National Champion – 1979 and 1981 at 118 lbs Wikipedia+1.

• Four-time NCAA Division I All-American (1977–1981) Wikipedia+1.

• NCAA Division I Career Pin Record – 107 pins, still the highest in the sport’s history Wikipedia+1.

• Outstanding Wrestler – Voted Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA Tournament in 1981 Wikipedia.

• NCAA Records – Holds multiple verified NCAA records, including career wins (144–5–1) and pin percentage National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

International Wrestling Honors

• 1980 World Super Champion – Japan, 52 kg, voted Outstanding Wrestler Wikipedia+1.

• 1980 Tbilisi International Tournament Champion – USSR, 52 kg, pinned all opponents and voted Outstanding Wrestler Wikipedia+1.

• Three-time World Cup Champion Gene Mills Pin2Win.

• Pan American Games Gold Medal – 1979, 52 kg Wikipedia.

• Cerra Pellado Champion (Cuba), Roger Goulon Champion (France), Rokoczi Cup Champion (Hungary) – all voted Outstanding Wrestler Gene Mills Pin2Win.

• 1980 U.S. Olympic Team – Selected for the 114 lb freestyle team; did not compete due to U.S. boycott Wikipedia+1.

 

Career Record

• 1,356 wins, 46 losses, 1 tie, with 886 victories by fall Gene Mills Pin2Win+1.

• Coaching Legacy – Over 1,300 career wins as a coach, including 16 seasons at Syracuse University grokipedia.com+1.

•  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

 

Edited October 1 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[Gene Mills Fan]

2 hours ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

 

 Bastard! 

 

For the uninitiated in wrestling or those whose knowledge is limited to the professional grunt and groan TV shows,

haha a quote in the e 'Unknown King'