It would be impossible to talk about the history of high school wrestling in Minnesota without mentioning Canby High School and the coach that created that success, Gerry Gingles. in the 1970's and 1980's Canby was one of the premiere programs in the State of Minnesota. Coach Gingles' teams captured five state championships. This small town school even captured a State Runner Up finish in the old one class State Tournament in 1975, a remarkable feet competing with the large school teams at that time. His Canby teams were always represented at the State tournament from Region 3 under the dual meet format. They had an incredible run of 18 consecutive trips to State, which was an unprecedented accomplishment at that time. What made this so impressive though was the fact that the Region (Section) they came through was considered one of the State's toughest. There were no easy trips to State from Region 3. That testimonial to Canby's success was played out at the State Tournament, every year. Canby always seemed to be among the' favorites to capture a State title. From 1976 to 1980 and 1983 to 1992 (Gingles did not coach in 1981 and 1982) his Canby teams captured Section titles. Along the way he coached nine individual State Champions with a career coaching record of 337 - 79 - 10. He was awarded Minnesota "Coach of the Year' honors in 1977 and was inducted into the Bemidji State Athletic "Hall of Fame"' in 1986 and the Dave Bartelma Minnesota "Hall of Fame" in 1990. Gingles wrestled in college under the guidance of fellow Hall of Fame Inductee Chet Anderson at Bemidji State College. Coach Gingles was known for his seemingly calm demeanor at mat side. He seemed to demonstrate to observers that the wrestling was taught in the room and at match time his wrestlers knew what to do. His quiet demeanor certainly was appreciated by officials, and his personal character was above reproach. Gerry Gingles was one of Minnesota High School's greatest coaches, and a true coaching legend in our sport.