Lakehead University

Bob Thayer is this year’s inductee in the builder’s category and his contributions and achievements to Lakehead Wrestling are enormous.  He was the coach of Lakehead wrestling from 1977 to 1982 and he capped his tenure with a Canada West and CIAU (now CIS) championship in 1979-80; Lakehead’s only full national championship to date.

Under his leadership, Lakehead took a CIAU (now CIS) national championship, three Canada West conference titles, and national silver in a very, very controversial close second place finish.  

 

In his five seasons at the helm of Lakehead wrestling; Thayer compiled a 1081 -549 win/loss record which was good for a .660 winning percentage.  He is tied for second all-time in coaching winning percentage and third in wins.

Thayer has a Bachelor of Science degree for Springfield College in Massachusetts, a M Sc. from the University of Alberta, and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario in Biochemistry/Kinesiology.

While at Springfield College; Thayer was a varsity wrestler and football player.  He went on to become a member of the Canadian national wrestling team in 1967 and was an alternate for the Canadian Olympic team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. 

 
In the final Olympic wrestle-off to decide their weight class representative for the Canadian Olympic team for Mexico; Thayer lost a close match to Lakehead wrestling legend Gord Garvie (also a member of the Lakehead Wall of Fame who was inducted in1996).  Although Garvie won the match and went to the Olympics; the two became lifelong friends after their match. 

Prior to coaching at Lakehead; he was the Head Football Coach at Dalhousie University. The friendship between Thayer and Garvie and his love of wrestling was the reason why Thayer chose to come to Lakehead from his coaching job at Dalhousie; replacing Garvie as Lakehead’s head wrestling coach.  

        
Thayer was also the Canadian National Wrestling Team Coordinator from 1979-82.  .  After leaving Lakehead to pursue his PhD; he was also an assistant football coach at Western.  He was also inducted onto the University of Western Ontario Wall of Fame in 2004. 

 
Thayer is now the CEO and Chair of the Board of Genesis Genomics in Thunder Bay; a groundbreaking company focused on the early detection of cancer with emphasis on mitochondrial genome research.  Bob is married to wife Carolan and their extended family includes five children and three grandchildren. 

 

 

Thayer said Lakehead University, and being a coach and athlete, have had a huge impact on his life.  “When I give talks across Canada about Genesis Genomics; I always point out that my history in Sports is what prepared me so well to become a businessman and taught me how to run a company.  I think my greatest satisfaction from my coaching years at Lakehead is how many of the athletes I coached have gone on to be so successful in life.  I think that’s very gratifying to think that I may have been at least partly responsible in shaping them to become the productive citizens that they’ve become.  I was, and still am, a strong supporter of Lakehead University and I believe it is a great university that delivers an excellent education to students from Northwestern Ontario and across Canada.  I am very proud to have been a part of Lakehead Athletics history.”