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GLENN BESTOR leaves legacy as one of Wisconsin's best All-around athletes "If we had 11 Glenn Bestors in our football lineup, I think we could have taken on any college team," said Jake Gores, Glenn's high school football coach and retired Goodrich High School athletic director. That's the way I regard him." "My brother Stan(Gores) claims, and I would back him up on this, that Glenn was the best all around athlete that Goodrich ever had." Words like "flashy", "local man about sports", "the best", "versatile athlete", punctuate the many sports stories written about him. Stan Gores wrote in the Fond du Lac Reporter in 1952 that Glenn was "regarded as one of the best fullbacks in the Fox River Valley in many years. Bestor manages to combine the slam-bang qualities of a line smasher with the shiftiness of a halfback." Harold Hanisch, a football teammate at both Goodrich and the University of Wisconsin, remembers Glenn as the "toughest player that ever played for Goodrich." "I remember one intrasquad game in Madison where Glenn ran right over me and I had marks on my chest from Glenn's football cleats," said Hanisch. "I just fell over backwards as he hit me. Glenn was a good guy, a tough guy. One game we played in Green Bay, Glenn gained over 200 yards." Named an All-Conference fullback in a tough Fox River Valley Conference for three years straight, Glenn also claimed the 175-pound state novice championship in the Milwaukee Golden Gloves tournament. He won back-to-back pole vaulting titles in 1952 and 1953, clearing 12-feet-6 and 12-4 when no other athlete was clearing 12-0. He also qualified in the 100-yard dash and a relay for the state track meet. Glenn went on to letter in football and wrestling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1957. A professor in the phy-ed department at UW-Platteville for 28 years, he also coached football, baseball, golf, and championship swimming teams. Glenn retired from teaching in 1990. After a life lived in superlatives, Glenn died unexpectedly of a heart attack on June 29, 2000. Although Glenn the man has passed on, the legend he leaves behind as a star Fond du Lac athlete in hockey, football, boxing, and track lives on. He was an enthusiastic and dedicated golfer, biker, farmer, rancher, pilot, and coach. We all miss him. He was, quite simply, the best in everything he tried, and his example is one we can all benefit from trying to live up to.
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