The 1980s were arguably the greatest years in the storied history of Flint-area basketball.
Central and Northwestern teamed to win five straight Class A boys titles from 1981-85, the girls from Northern and Northwestern won four of five Class A crowns from 1980-84 and the area finished with a combined 15 championships.While many of his friends and classmates rose to fame on the basketball court, Northern High’s John Fisher took a different route: He dominated his opponents on the wrestling mat in a way that perhaps no other Flint athlete in history has done.Fisher won a Class A state championship in 1984, was a four-time City champion and won three Saginaw Valley Conference titles before moving on to the University of Michigan, where he was a four-time All-American.
Throw in two alternate roles on the U.S. Olympic team in 1992 and ’96 to go with a World Cup championship in ’97 and it’s why Fisher is among seven individuals and three teams being inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame this year.
“It’s a big honor, especially growing up in Flint and being recognized with such great athletes and individuals,” said Fisher, 44. “I was just looking through the 2008 (Hall of Fame program) and the list of people who are in there is amazing.
“(Wrestling has) done a lot for me. You have to be a tough individual to wrestle. It prepares you for anything. A person who wrestles can do anything. You have to be disciplined. There are going to be times when you should win or might be cheated out of a match and you have to get back up, come back and try to learn from your mistakes.”
Fisher, who teaches physical education at two Ann Arbor elementary schools, credits his mother Nancy and late father Troy for instilling in him the type of work ethic and character it takes to be so successful at both a grueling sport like wrestling and life in general.
“They always set a good example,” he said. “A lot of times people talk stuff but seeing the way they were as people, they were good role models for me. It’s not just what they said but their actions. Their actions helped me to be successful.
“My mother means everything to me. She’s fighting breast cancer. When she I found out I was nominated, she was so excited. This means more to her than me. She’s so proud.”
Fisher’s accomplishments are astounding.
In addition to the aforementioned achievements, he also:
- Had a 54-0 record as a high school senior en route to the Class A state championship at 126 pounds.
- Finished his brilliant college as the University of Michigan’s all-time leader in victories with a 184-21 record.
- And earned All-American status four times at UM via one third-place finish and three fourths in the NCAA Championships.
He was so good in college that former Wolverines coach Dale Bahr compared Fisher to one of the greatest athletes in the school’s famed history.
“He’s as good at what he does as Anthony Carter was in football,” Bahr said back in 1989. “There are few kids who come into a sport and leave an imprint or take it to another level. John’s the type of kid, who during his five years here, has taken us to among the top five in the country.
“His wrestling style, his approach has elevated everybody’s expectations. That’s what those franchise kids do.”
Fisher says a big part of who he was on the wrestling mat is a reflection of longtime Northern coach Francis Bentley, a member of the GFASHOF who was Fisher’s next-door neighbor when he was growing up on Stockdale Street in Flint.
“I always wanted to make Mr. Bentley proud of me,” Fisher said. “A lot of guys wrestled hard for Mr. Bentley because they wanted to make him proud and never let him down.
“My son, who competes in sports, hasn’t gotten into wrestling yet. But I’d love him to have coaches who are like Mr. Bentley.”
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