Brother Melchior Polowy CSC (1911–1997) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

member of the

Congregation of Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...

. He was one of the principal founders of high school

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He entered the Congregation of Holy Cross at St. Joseph's Novitiate in

Rolling Prairie, Indiana Rolling Prairie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 582. History The first cabin was built here in 1831 by ...

, and took his vows in 1939. Brother Polowy's teams at Holy Cross High School in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

won 22 state championships from 1945 to 1968. Brother Melchior retired from coaching in 1971 and was honored 36 years later, and ten years posthumously by the Louisiana chapter of the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

for his work. After retiring from coaching Brother Melchior remained at Holy Cross High School as an educator, teaching both religion classes and weight-lifting classes through the 1970s and '80s. Brother Melchior died in November 1997 at the age of 86 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at Dujarie House in

Notre Dame, Indiana Notre Dame is a census-designated place and unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. It includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's Coll ...

. In 2002, he was the subject of a book about his work in wrestling.

References

External links

The Brother Melchior Society
1911 births 1997 deaths American wrestling coaches Congregation of Holy Cross {{US-wrestling-bio-stub