COACH OMER CLAY VARNER
Coach O. C. "Pop" VARNER began his coaching career at Delphos High School where he remained for six years. While coaching
the Delphos team, Coach VARNER experienced his first championship win at the 1924 Ringgold County Basketball Tournament
held at Mount Ayr. Delphos defeated Mount Ayr, 22-21. During Coach VARNER's tenure at Delphos, the team won 3 county
championships and one 2nd place title. Coach VARNER accepted a position at Diagonal High School in 1930. His Diagonal
Maroons won 11 county tournaments, 14 sectional tournaments, and 11 district tournaments. The Maroons placed 4th in
the 1935 Iowa State Tournament. Under the direction of Coach VARNER, the Diagonal Maroons won the 1938 Iowa State
Championship and placed second in 1939. During Coach VARNER's sixteen years at Diagonal, the team won 466 games and lost
98 games.
Coach VARNER accepted a position at Mount Ayr High School in 1946. Under his leadership, Mount Ayr won five
Bluegrass Conference titles and tied once with a record of 70 conference wins and 8 losses. Coach VARNER's record at
Mount Ayr was 120 wins and 36 losses. Of the 35 Ringgold County Tournaments, Coach VARNER claimed 18 championships and
took teams to 28 of the tournaments. Combined, his teams won 586 games and lost 134 games over his twenty-eight
year career. He was named to the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame.
Coach VARNER suffered a stroke in 1952 which forced him
into retirement. The 1953 Ringgold County Tournament presented a special tribute to Coach VARNER. He was presented with a trophy,
inscribed "To Pop VARNER, Dean of Iowa Class B basketball, in deep appreciation of his able teaching, sense of
fair play and oustanding coaching contribution to our community and the State of Iowa." Coach VARNER and his wife moved to Clearfield where they lived the remainder of their lives.
The Omer "Pop" VARNER Family Delphos, Iowa
Seated: Omer "Pop" and Nina (STEPHENS) VARNER
Standing, left to right: Spurgeon, Clay, Paul L., John, and Alvin VARNER
Omer "Pop" VARNER was born on February 8, 1884, and died March 13, 1966.
Nina (STEPHENS) VARNER was born June 8, 1889, and died April 19, 1979.
Paul L. VARNER was born in 1916, and died in 1981.
They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa.
SOURCES:
Ringgold County History Complied and written by the Iowa Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the
State of Iowa, Sponsored by Ringgold County Superintendent of Schools, Mount Ayr, Iowa. 1942.
Mount Ayr Record-News, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, February 10, 2007
AVITT, Mike. Pages and Pictures from the Past. . .Ringgold County, Iowa 1855-2005 Pp. 60-3.
Paragon Publications, Inc. Mount Ayr. 2009.
Compilation by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2009
Ringgold County Bulletin
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 19, 1973
The Only Publication of Its Kind in the World
An International Quarterly, Intended to Promote
Loving Loyalty To The Old Home and The Old Friends
Pop Varner one of the area's great coaches
Any list of great high school coaches of southern Iowa would be incomplete wihtout the name of "Pop" VANER.
His entire coaching career was spent in
Ringgold county, first at Delphos, later at Diagonal and at Mount Ayr. His material was always limited in numbers and usually
physique. He took ordinary boys and welded them into extraordinary teams. His greatest achievement was the State Champsionship
won by his 1938 Diagonal Maroons.
Quoted from Harold TURNBULL's "Country Side" column in 1966:
"Pop's"
record at Delphos has not been preserved, however he had some great teams there in the early twenties and in 1928 his
Delphos team played and defeated Roosevelt High of Des Moines.
Coming to Diagonal in 1930, "Pop" started a long record of
winning county, sectional and district titles, climaxed by the winning of the state tournament in 1938. In a 16-year
span, the Maroons won 466 games while losing 98. At Mount Ayr, under "Pop," the Raiders won the county three times, the
district once, and took six sectional crowns. In Bluegrass Conference play, the records was five championships, one tie and
an over-all record of 70 victories against 8 losses. Against all foes, his Raiders won 120 while losing 36.
Mr. VARNER developed many outstanding players during his career. One of these was Dick IVES, only 17 in his freshman year
at Iowa University where he later was All-American. Another brilliant player was Corwin "Boney" BONEBRAKE, 1935 all-starter and
recognized as one of the greatest dribblers and ball handlers ever to play in a state tournament. Many lesser-known
players, some with a minimum of natural ability, were brought to stardom by "Pop's" uncanny ability to get absolute top
performance from every boy on his squad.
Coach VARNER'S ability to diagnose the strength and weaknesses of opposing teams
turned many an apparent defeat into victory. Time after time the Maroons would be down 10 to 20 points in an
important game only to come storming back to win. Their offense came to be regarded as comparable to the home-run power
of the Yankees, and a close game was never lost until the final whistle.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010
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