Wabash Little Giants
Encyclopedia
The Wabash Little Giants are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Wabash College
, a small private school for men in Crawfordsville, Indiana
. The university belongs to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
and participates in Division III sports. The Little Giants compete as members of the North Coast Athletic Conference
. Despite the college's small enrollment and that it is "not a jock school", the Little Giants have had success in several sports. The most popular among Wabash fans are football
and swimming
. The Little Giants also have a well-respected cross-country team. In football, Wabash has an important rivalry
with DePauw University
, and each season they meet for the Monon Bell Classic. Wabash and DePauw compete annually to win the trophy, the Monon Bell, and as of 2010 the two teams have played 117 games in the series with Wabash holding a 55-53-9 advantage.
game in the state of Indiana
took place when Wabash College defeated a team from Butler University
, 4–0. From the 1890s to the 1910s, the Wabash football team played schedules against many much larger colleges, such as Illinois
, Indiana
, and Purdue
, against whom the Little Giants occasionally won impressive upsets. For instance Wabash won all five games against Purdue between 1906 and 1911.
In 1903, the Wabash football team fielded its first black
player, Samuel S. Gordon, and the following season added another, Walter M. Cantrell. Many opposing teams threatened boycotts, but school president William Patterson Kane insisted the men be allowed to play. Some opponents did cancel their games, but Gordon and Cantrell continued to play for Wabash. The 1904 football team adopted the nickname the "Little Giants", which was the first time that moniker was used by the school. That season, Wabash won decisive victories over , 81–0, , 51–0, and , 35–0, and they lost close contests to , , , and .
The Little Giants' most prominent football game came against at South Bend, Indiana
on October 21, 1905. Wabash took a first-half lead, 5–0, through a dominating performance by their backfield and linemen. In the second half, Notre Dame advanced inside the Wabash five-yard line three times, but was repelled on each occasion. The Little Giants won, 5–0, and it proved the only Notre Dame home-field
loss in 125 games between 1899 and 1928. The Little Giants and Fighting Irish
played several more times after that, and the last game took place in 1924. Incidentally, both head coaches that season, Pete Vaughan
of Wabash and Knute Rockne
of Notre Dame, had played college football together for the Fighting Irish. A further connection between the schools was College Football Hall of Fame
inductee Jesse Harper
, who coached Wabash from 1909 to 1912, and then Notre Dame from 1913 to 1917.
was the first national championship tournament ever held in intercollegiate basketball. The 1921–22 Wabash College team won the championship game, 43–23, over Kalamazoo College
. Wabash finished with a season record of 21–3, winning all three tournament games in convincing fashion. They were coached by the legendary Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan
and their players were Fred Adam, Paul Schanlaub, Lon Goldsberry, John Burns, and Clyde Grater.
Wabash also won the 1982 NCAA Division III championship. Coached by Mac Petty (whose name now adorns the Chadwick Court floor) and captained by Mike Holcomb and future NFL star Pete Metzelaars
, rolled their way to a 23-4 season. They were considered an inexperienced squad (their captains being the only seniors) coming into the season. They did win their opener in Greencastle against rival DePauw
in a comeback effort, 63-62. Of the four games they lost, only one was to another Division III school, Hope College
, in a thrilling overtime game in Crawfordsville. The other three were to Division I Louisiana Tech and UT-San Antonio and Division II Texas A&I
. The team finished the year on a 19-game winning streak. Along the way, they broke Rose-Hulman's 12-game win streak, defeating the Engineers 100-51. The team received their NCAA bid the next day. They closed the regular season defeating DePauw by 10 in Crawfordsville.
In the regional tournament, Wabash first met Ohio Northern and rode Metzelaars' 30 point effort to an easy 81-61 win. Next up, the Little Giants were able to avenge their only Division III loss of the season against Hope, winning 82-70. The next two games did not come so easily, squeezing out a 54-51 win against Augustana
and sweating out a 68-64 win against Stanislaus St.
. Wabash then faced defending champion Potsdam St.
The champs had no answer for Metzelaars, however, as he poured in 45 points en route to a 83-62 victory. It was the largest margin of victory in the championship at the time.
Wabash College
Wabash College is a small, private, liberal arts college for men, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Morehouse College, Wabash is one of only three remaining traditional all-men's liberal arts colleges in the United States.-History:Wabash College was founded...
, a small private school for men in Crawfordsville, Indiana
Crawfordsville, Indiana
Crawfordsville is a city in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 15,915. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County...
. The university belongs to the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
and participates in Division III sports. The Little Giants compete as members of the North Coast Athletic Conference
North Coast Athletic Conference
The North Coast Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. When founded in 1984, the NCAC was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unprecedented ten women's sports...
. Despite the college's small enrollment and that it is "not a jock school", the Little Giants have had success in several sports. The most popular among Wabash fans are football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. The Little Giants also have a well-respected cross-country team. In football, Wabash has an important rivalry
College rivalry
Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both academics and athletics, the latter being typically...
with DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
, and each season they meet for the Monon Bell Classic. Wabash and DePauw compete annually to win the trophy, the Monon Bell, and as of 2010 the two teams have played 117 games in the series with Wabash holding a 55-53-9 advantage.
Football
In 1884, the first intercollegiate footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game in the state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
took place when Wabash College defeated a team from Butler University
Butler University
Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...
, 4–0. From the 1890s to the 1910s, the Wabash football team played schedules against many much larger colleges, such as Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....
, Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers football
The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...
, and Purdue
Purdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
, against whom the Little Giants occasionally won impressive upsets. For instance Wabash won all five games against Purdue between 1906 and 1911.
In 1903, the Wabash football team fielded its first black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
player, Samuel S. Gordon, and the following season added another, Walter M. Cantrell. Many opposing teams threatened boycotts, but school president William Patterson Kane insisted the men be allowed to play. Some opponents did cancel their games, but Gordon and Cantrell continued to play for Wabash. The 1904 football team adopted the nickname the "Little Giants", which was the first time that moniker was used by the school. That season, Wabash won decisive victories over , 81–0, , 51–0, and , 35–0, and they lost close contests to , , , and .
The Little Giants' most prominent football game came against at South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
on October 21, 1905. Wabash took a first-half lead, 5–0, through a dominating performance by their backfield and linemen. In the second half, Notre Dame advanced inside the Wabash five-yard line three times, but was repelled on each occasion. The Little Giants won, 5–0, and it proved the only Notre Dame home-field
Home Field Advantage
Home Field Advantage is a 2000 independent film starring Tony Award-winning actor Dan Fogler in the role of Charlie....
loss in 125 games between 1899 and 1928. The Little Giants and Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
played several more times after that, and the last game took place in 1924. Incidentally, both head coaches that season, Pete Vaughan
Robert E. Vaughan
Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan was the 22nd head footbal] coach for the Wabash College Little Giants located in Crawfordsville, Indiana and he held that position for twenty-seven seasons, from 1919 until 1945. His career coaching record at Wabash was 115 wins, 85 losses, and 24 ties...
of Wabash and Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
of Notre Dame, had played college football together for the Fighting Irish. A further connection between the schools was College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
inductee Jesse Harper
Jesse Harper
-External links:* * at College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com...
, who coached Wabash from 1909 to 1912, and then Notre Dame from 1913 to 1917.
Basketball
The 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament
The 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament was the first national championship tournament ever held in intercollegiate basketball. The 1921–22 Wabash College Little Giants team won the championship game, 43–23, over Kalamazoo College. The tournament was held among conference champions...
was the first national championship tournament ever held in intercollegiate basketball. The 1921–22 Wabash College team won the championship game, 43–23, over Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
. Wabash finished with a season record of 21–3, winning all three tournament games in convincing fashion. They were coached by the legendary Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan
Robert E. Vaughan
Robert E. "Pete" Vaughan was the 22nd head footbal] coach for the Wabash College Little Giants located in Crawfordsville, Indiana and he held that position for twenty-seven seasons, from 1919 until 1945. His career coaching record at Wabash was 115 wins, 85 losses, and 24 ties...
and their players were Fred Adam, Paul Schanlaub, Lon Goldsberry, John Burns, and Clyde Grater.
Wabash also won the 1982 NCAA Division III championship. Coached by Mac Petty (whose name now adorns the Chadwick Court floor) and captained by Mike Holcomb and future NFL star Pete Metzelaars
Pete Metzelaars
Peter Henry Metzelaars is a former American football tight end who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, and Detroit Lions in a sixteen-year career in the National Football League...
, rolled their way to a 23-4 season. They were considered an inexperienced squad (their captains being the only seniors) coming into the season. They did win their opener in Greencastle against rival DePauw
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
in a comeback effort, 63-62. Of the four games they lost, only one was to another Division III school, Hope College
Hope College
Hope College is a medium-sized , private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled...
, in a thrilling overtime game in Crawfordsville. The other three were to Division I Louisiana Tech and UT-San Antonio and Division II Texas A&I
Texas A&M University–Kingsville
Texas A&M University–Kingsville is a U.S. national university with a multicultural student body that is 62 percent Hispanic and includes students from 35 states and 43 foreign countries...
. The team finished the year on a 19-game winning streak. Along the way, they broke Rose-Hulman's 12-game win streak, defeating the Engineers 100-51. The team received their NCAA bid the next day. They closed the regular season defeating DePauw by 10 in Crawfordsville.
In the regional tournament, Wabash first met Ohio Northern and rode Metzelaars' 30 point effort to an easy 81-61 win. Next up, the Little Giants were able to avenge their only Division III loss of the season against Hope, winning 82-70. The next two games did not come so easily, squeezing out a 54-51 win against Augustana
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...
and sweating out a 68-64 win against Stanislaus St.
California State University, Stanislaus
California State University, Stanislaus, also known as Cal State Stanislaus or simply Stan State is a campus in the California State University system which was established in 1957 in Turlock, California. It is also the only campus in the CSU system to offer a bachelor's degree in cognitive studies...
. Wabash then faced defending champion Potsdam St.
State University of New York at Potsdam
The State University of New York at Potsdam, also known as SUNY Potsdam, or, colloquially, Potsdam, is a public university located in the Village of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York. Founded in 1816, it is among the 50 oldest colleges in the United States...
The champs had no answer for Metzelaars, however, as he poured in 45 points en route to a 83-62 victory. It was the largest margin of victory in the championship at the time.