Hall of Fame
"In four years, I have never seen him beaten one-on-one." That's the way Coach Wayne Phillips described the play of Paul Wagner, starter and mainstay of the Coe offensive line from 1974 through 1977. A graduate of Dubuque Wahlert High School, Paul started in his first game as a 220- pound freshman and played every game at offensive tackle until he finished as a 265-pound senior. His power and skill at tackle was quickly noted by conference coaches. He was selected to the All-Conference second team as a sophomore. In his junior year, he was the only junior placed on the All-Conference first team. He repeated All-Conference honors as a senior. After his last game, he won national honors by being selected to a first-team berth on the Associated Press Little All-America football team. Paul was the first Iowan chosen on the AP first team in the decade of the Seventies, and that choice came in days when players at colleges like Coe competed with players from NCAA Division II universities for Little All-America honors. Coaches and friends credit Paul's consistent hard work in weight lifting and conditioning as the secret of his success. He began a coaching career at Marshalltown Junior College and with the semi-pro Newton Nighthawks. He has now been at Grinnell High School for the past 10 years as head wrestling and track coach and assistant football coach. Because he attracted national attention as a football player at Coe more through his own hard work and dedication than native talent, it is a particular pleasure to add Paul F. Wagner's name to the list of outstanding football players enrolled in the Coe College Athletic Hall of Fame.
