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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

James Reilly, who helped Gonzaga University to NCAA boxing title, dies at 88

Jim Reilly, left, and Carl Maxey helped lead Gonzaga to the 1950 NCAA boxing championship. (Photo courtesy Dan Reilly)

Perhaps you saw the obituary on Sunday: James Patrick Reilly passed away March 23 at age 88.

The timing seems especially poignant, because 67 years ago, Jim Reilly won an NCAA championship for Gonzaga University.

Up until – possibly, today – no one other than Reilly and two fellow boxers on the 1950 Gonzaga University boxing team could make that claim. That year, the Gonzaga University boxing team stunned the boxing world when it shared the national championship title with the University of Idaho.

Gonzaga University was going up against some of the big powerhouses in college boxing, such as Penn State and Michigan State. Gonzaga was clearly an underdog. Some of the big schools had five qualifiers, but Gonzaga’s coach Joey August had only three: Carl Maxey, Eli Thomas and Jim Reilly.

All three had already won Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championships in their weight classes. Their next challenge was simply getting to State College, Pennsylvania, the site of the National College Boxing Championships. The cash-strapped Gonzaga athletic department couldn’t pay the air fare, so the Ringsiders booster club had to frantically scrape up the money.

All three Gonzaga boxers won their first-round matches. Thomas made it into the finals – and then won his 155-pound weight class. Reilly, in the 130-pound division, earned some crucial team points before losing in the semifinals.

It all came down to Maxey. He faced a Michigan State standout in the finals of the 175-pound weight class. Both were undefeated in their college careers. If Maxey lost, Michigan State would win the team championship outright. If Maxey won, Gonzaga would tie for the championship with the equally surprising University of Idaho team.

Maxey won by one point and Gonzaga earned a share of its first NCAA title.

When the team returned to Spokane’s Geiger Field, a delirious crowd of more than 1,000 broke through the police restraining lines and carried the boxers across the tarmac on their shoulders.

Reilly remained a great supporter of Gonzaga all his life. His son, Mike Reilly, said that if circumstances had permitted, his father would have been one of the revelers on the Gonzaga campus, celebrating another NCAA run.

“It’s one of those things,” said his son. “Some people just call their school their home.”