Jerry Conine

Last updated

Jerry Conine
Personal information
Born (1939-12-02) December 2, 1939 (age 84)
Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Sport
CountryUnited States
Sport Wrestling
Event(s) Freestyle and Greco-Roman
TeamUSA

Jerry Conine (born December 2, 1939) is an American former wrestler, [1] [2] American footballer and American handball player. Conine competed in the men's freestyle light heavyweight at the 1964 Summer Olympics, and played American football for Washington State Cougars and the Tacoma Tyees.

Contents

Career

Conine competed in the men's freestyle light heavyweight at the 1964 Summer Olympics, [3] finishing sixth overall. [4] Conine later won his event at the 1965 Association of American Universities national Greco-Roman wrestling championships. [5]

Conine also played college football for Washington State Cougars, [6] and American football for Tacoma Tyees in the North Pacific Football League. He missed part of the 1964 Tyees season to compete at the Olympics. [7]

In 1970, Conine took up American handball. He finished second in the doubles event at the 1976 national championships. [4] In the 1970s and 1980s, he competed in the Championship Riverside Handball League, and was described as "one of the greatest handball players Southern California has ever produced." [8] Conine was still competing in age group handball in 1999, when he competed in the United States Handball Association National Championships. [4]

In 2006, Conine was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted into the Southern California Handball Association hall of fame. [8]

Personal life

Conine is from Tacoma, Washington, United States, and later lived in Riverside, California. [4] His son Jeff played in the Major League Baseball, [4] and his grandson Griffin played Minor League Baseball for the Miami Marlins. [9]

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References

  1. "Jerry Conine patch". Tacoma Sports Museum. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  2. "Jerry Conine". Olympedia. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  3. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jerry Conine Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cinine's father quite a hitter, too; Handball: Ex-linesman and Olympic wrestler Jerry Conine come to town to pound handball foes as his Orioles son does hanging curves and racquetball foes". The Baltimore Sun . June 26, 1999. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  5. "Jerry takes mat victory". The Spokesman-Review . April 15, 1965. p. 7. Retrieved January 23, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Right Guy Wins Game Ball". The Spokesman-Review . November 20, 1961. p. 22. Retrieved January 23, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Four Players Added to Tyees". The News Tribune . August 16, 1964. p. 34. Retrieved January 23, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "SCHA Handball Hall of Fame 1983 - 2018". Southern California Handball Association. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  9. "The making of a prospect: For Griffin Conine, bloodlines help. So does a dad who refused to put pressure on his son" . The Athletic. August 13, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2022.