Photo courtesy of Canby Public Schools. Gerry Gingles' official Canby Hall of Fame plaque from being inducted in 2011. He had an overall record of 337-69-11.

CANBY — With a quiet demeanor and an ability to inspire and lead, Gerry Gingles’ everlasting legacy on Canby and surrounding areas is a testament to his profound influence on a great number of people.

Gingles was a longtime Canby High School wrestling coach and passed away on July 23 at the age of 84. He coached the Lancers from 1966 to 1992 and built it into a powerhouse program. They had 18 straight state tournament appearances from 1976-1992 and won five titles. He finished with a coaching career record of 337-69-11. Despite his numerous wrestling accomplishments that will forever be engraved in Canby history, Gingles will also be remembered for the person he was.

Gary Stoks, Greg Kockelman and Gordy Engesmoe are all past athletes of Gingles, and attest to his good character and winning mentality.

Stoks, the current Canby coach, wrestled for Gingles 1976-78. Kockelman played for him 1974-76, while Engesmoe had him as an assistant coach for his senior year in 1965-66.

Gingles was an assistant coach for a year before taking over the helm officially.

“I just can’t say enough good things about him,” Stoks said. “He was a guy you want to hang out with. Everybody respected him.”

Originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, Gingles attended the University of Nebraska for a year before transferring to Bemidji State University, where his wrestling career began and he tried out for the team. He also met his wife, Marcia, in Bemidji and they married in 1964.

Gingles also was a teacher, but he started his coaching career after college in 1962 for the Kimball Longhorns back in Nebraska.

In 1964, Gingles and his wife made the move to Canby for new teaching jobs. Often overlooked, he was the men’s basketball coach for the 1964-65 season before transitioning to the wrestling team.

“The superintendent asked Gerry if he could coach basketball,” Engesmoe said, who stayed a close friend to Gingles. “Gerry said, ‘Anybody can coach basketball.'”

Engesmoe’s friend, Steve Bliss, was on the basketball team Gingles coached, but wanted to quit the sport for something new. To their surprise, Bliss was not able to get away from Gingles.

“He (Bliss) comes up for wrestling, and so we’re sitting there and then Gingles walks in the door. He’s the (new) wrestling coach,” Engesmoe said. “I looked at Steve, I started to laugh, and he was like, ‘What the heck’ … Then he was a very good wrestler and he got along with Gingles when he was the wrestling coach.”

Engesmoe and Bliss had a running joke that Gingles came to Canby to transition basketball players into wrestlers.

When it came to Gingle’s coaching style, Stoks, Kockelman and Engesmoe all described the same traits: Quiet yet determined.

“Number one, he was quiet. He made his points on what you’re supposed to do, and that was all,” Stoks said. “Everything else was just hard work and repeat … He just knew what he wanted. If you didn’t do it, you just kept redoing it and repeating. His big, famous words were always, ‘Do it again, do it again.'”

The three of them said when it came to a match, Gingles was not going to make himself known and he would always have a notepad with him. He would instead watch and discuss later.

“You didn’t get a lot out of him. He was not that coach that stood on the edge of the mat and yelled,” Kockelman said. “He sat on a chair with his clipboard and took notes, and if there was something he didn’t like, he talked to you about it the next day.”

Photo submitted by Gordy Engesmoe. A page from the 1976 Canby High School yearbook, where Gingles and his team won their first state tournament title. They also won state championships in 1977, 1979, 1986 and 1988.

Gingles’ traits in the gym played into his character as well.

“He wrote down what you needed to work on. He never yelled and hollered at you when you were wrestling or anything,” Engesmoe said. “That’s pretty much how his personality carried over with everything.”

Stoks and Kockelman both said that Gingles would sometimes showcase a funny side to him that would throw them off guard.

“As time went on, he opened up a lot more and we found out he had a great sense of humor,” Kockelman said laughing. “But, we didn’t see a lot of that when I was in high school.”

Between the three, they each have fond memories with Gingles.

Stoks remembers a time when he tried cross country, and Gingles made it known the expectations he had for his athletes.

“He always wanted you in another sport and I never ran cross country, and I was a senior,” Stoks said. “You had to run a certain time … He called me out in front of everybody and said, ‘Ok Stoks, here’s your time. This is what you got to beat, and if you don’t do it, you’re doing it all over.'”

Kockelman recalls a time when he wasn’t having a good season, but Gingles worked to get him out of a rut.

“When I was a sophomore, I was on the team and I was not having a great year,” Kockelman said. “He told me, ‘You know, just because guys are bigger than you, doesn’t mean they should pin me.’ It was kind of (a message) don’t underestimate yourself. You’re better than you think you are.”

For Engesmoe, there was a time where Gingles wanted his team to, seriously, have a new look.

“For this one match, we were waiting for this team to show up, and there were a bunch of us that Gingles decided that our hair was too long, and gave us haircuts,” Engesmoe said. “There were half a dozen of us in the line, and sitting down and Gingles cut our hair. I did not get it, because the team showed up to get weighed in just before it was my turn to get sat down.”

Engesmoe said his son grew up to also play under Gingles when he got to high school. When he was born in 1976, Canby was in the state tournament the next 18 years straight.

Stoks tries to now fill the shoes of Gingles as he coaches the current Lancers, with implementations of his tactics.

“I try to do as many things as possible that he (Gingles) taught us, and things we did,” Stoks said. “As successful as he was, you want to follow in his footsteps and you want to do what he did … The idea that you got something to follow, he gave you a map on how to do it. On how to treat people.”

Kockelman and Engesmoe still stay heavily involved in Canby wrestling, as they both have spent the last few decades running the time clock and keeping score books during matches.

Gingles impact on the community is still heavily presented, even if it’s been 32 years since he coached his last match.

“I talk to a lot of former wrestlers … They all kind of say the same thing, that his (Gingles’) determination rubbed off,” Kockelman said. “If you were willing to work hard, you could accomplish whatever you want.”

Gingles has a plethora of accomplishments to his name, including a handful of Hall of Fame honors. He was inducted into the Bemidji State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986, Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame 1990, the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Canby Hall of Fame in 2011. He also was named the Minnesota Wrestling Coach (MWCA) of the Year in 1977, after winning their second state championship.

Gingles was a part of the startup of the Canby Hall of Fame, with a mission to honor the town’s past and current athletic talents. He had Engesmoe join him on the committee. His effort to reunite the community for the induction ceremonies is a commendable act, and has restored longtime relationships.

“These guys come back (to Canby), I think that we have had like 400 people in the audience, and I mean, I’ve cried at every one of these,” Engesmoe said. “These guys came back and they were so emotional about this. I mean, it just brought tears to us … Gerry was kind of the instigator of starting that Hall of Fame for Canby.”

The town of Canby knew it would only be a matter of time before Gingles got inducted, but he was the one that insisted to the committee on waiting, so others could have their moments first, according to Engesmoe.

Gingles is survived by his three children: Douglas Gingles, Kerri Shackelford and Patrick Gingles.

The history Gingles forged, both on the wrestling mat and in life, will be his enduring legacy.

“Everybody admired Gerry, everybody,” Engesmoe said. “When people talk about Canby wrestling, they will always be talking about Gerry Gingles.”