Some suggest it was a college wrestler who once said a journey of a lifetime begins with just one small step, but for Frank Mosier, it started with a cross-country bus ride. One of the certified legends of Minnesota State Moorhead wrestling, Mosier left his hometown of Washington, Penn., in 1962 for Moorhead State College in search of a new challenge and a better tomorrow.
“I hopped on a bus for 36 hours and started a whole new life,” Mosier said. “When I came to Moorhead, I thought, my God, the people were nice; the houses were nice; it was clean; and the people were so friendly.”
It proved to be the perfect landing area.
“Moorhead State has been very good to me and a lot of athletes,” Mosier said. “Athletics has been very good for a lot of kids, and I happen to fit that category very well. If it had not been for athletics, I would not have gone to Moorhead State, and if it had not been for Moorhead State, I would not be where I am today because they gave me a great opportunity. I've been a lucky, lucky guy.”
Luck may have been part of the equation, but it was a healthy mix of talent and resolve that carried Mosier to the summit of college wrestling. A two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) individual champ, Mosier and his Dragon pals became the first and only MSUM team to capture a national championship, winning the 1964 NAIA title at Spearfish, SD.
A three-time Northern Intercollegiate Conference winner, Mosier collected NAIA National Championships at 167 pounds in 1964 and 1967. His portfolio also includes induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (1984), the Dragon Hall of Fame (1990) and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame (2009).
Mosier grew up in southwest Pennsylvania. The western rim of the steel belt was a virtual gold mine of rich athletic talent, producing football legends Barry Alvarez, Mike Ditka, Kirk Ferentz, Jim Kelly, Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, a boyhood pal of Mosier. It was not always a comfortable neighborhood, however.
“It was coal mining, steel mills, and a little bit of farming, not a very wealthy area.” Mosier said. “Washington was a very ethnic community. There were Italians over here, Blacks over here and Poles over here, and nobody had any money, everybody was poor. It was dog-eat-dog; we were living in a tough time. There were also a lot of widows and widowers because of coal mines collapses, and people died early because of black lung. It was a real tough culture.”
It was a town for tough guys, indeed.
“I used to walk a half hour to the Catholic church every Saturday morning to go to catechism. On my way up, I would get a beating, and on my way back, some of those guys were waiting in the bushes, and I would get another beating,” Mosier laughed. “Sometimes the priest would give me another whack for coming in all beat up."
It was a crucible that forged talented athletes, including Mosier.
“The league we played in---the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League---was tougher than nails, probably the elite football and recruiting place in America. At the time, I was interested more in playing football than wrestling, “said Mosier.
“My Dad, Frank Sr., died when I was 12. He was a great football player and wrestler, and he said, 'Look Frank, promise me you'll play football and won't wrestle.' My mother raised six children, and she wanted me to play football instead, but I had more people chasing after me for big time wrestling than big time football. I was only about 180 pounds, maybe 5-10, but I had a shot at going to the University of Maryland.”
“Some of the guys from my hometown had gone to the University of Indiana, but their coach quit and Bucky (Maughan) and Bill Garland left Indiana for Moorhead State. I knew Bucky from nearby Canonsburg, and he said 'Come up here; it's a whole new world from where we live in.' Bucky told me I could make the football team and do both, but it didn't work out.”
Mosier pounced on the invitation to start over, and credits Garland, his collegiate coach, with much of his success.
“Nobody worked as hard in his own way to do as much for every athlete who wrestled for them,” Mosier said. “It's good to get a mentor, to get somebody who will be your advocate. There were a lot of people who grew up in my environment who needed that encouragement. We didn't have many role models who had college degrees; we had role models who were great athletes but stayed home and didn't go to college.”
Mosier's post-wrestling career almost included a military stint.?
“In 1963 I was doing a giant swing in Roy Domek's PE class, and I fell off the thing and broke my jaw. I had it wired shut and was out for a while, but I pulled through that and won the small college (wrestling) title. It wasn't a month later I was drafted, but I flunked the physical because of my knees. Can you believe that?”
“I went back home and taught for one year, but decided I couldn't teach so I went to graduate school at West Virginia University. I changed my major to Psychology and got my master's degree. I was a school psychologist at Trinity Area Schools for three years, but I found out I didn't like that, so I went down an interviewed for the Dean of Men (position) at Waynesburg College (PA) and they hired me.”
After three years in academia, the call of business became too loud to ignore. “I married my high school sweetheart in 1967, and her dad was a scout for the Pirates and the number one life insurance manager for Baltimore Life Insurance. He kept trying to get me into the business. In 1975 I joined the State Farm Insurance Company and loved it.”
He moved rapidly up the corporate ranks from State Farm Insurance Companies, including positions as agent, Director of Agent Education and Training, Agency Manager, Agency Director, Executive Assistant to the President's Office, Agency Vice President Agent for Management Training and Development and Vice President Agency of the North Atlantic Region.
It was an ambitious career calling, and Mosier was ready for a new role. “I finally got tired of all the travel, and I said I'm tired of traveling, Let me go do an agency again, and now I have an agency in Milbourn.”
Mosier remains active on several fronts and served as co-founder and president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. He also answered a call from his alma mater.
Last summer Mosier was invited to join an athletic summit called by MSUM President Dr. Edna Szymanski to explore possibilities for expanding athletic scholarships. “The opportunity that Edna is providing is overwhelming to me, and Edna has her heart in the right place. It's right, it's time and giving back is so important; the more you give the more you get. . .”
Frank and his wife Leslye have two sons, Frank, Jr., a banker and investment specialist in Moscow, Russia, and Michael, a lawyer in the United States Department of Justice.
“All my life I've been humbled. Everybody in every sport and every facet of my life was smarter and better than I was, so I've always had to fight and outwork people. That's what inherent in my personality and in any success I've had. I'm not a Phi Beta Kappa, but nobody will outwork me. You can knock me down, but I will get up, and if there is any message I can pass on to my kids and grandkids, that's it.”
