Wabash College Athletics

Gilbert M. Shoaf came to Wabash in the fall of 1953, plucked from Gridstone, Pennsylvania by Coach Huntsman. Coach Garland Frazier and his football staff had smiles ear to ear when Shoaf entered training camp at 6-4 and 275 pounds, huge by small college standards. As a tackle on the line, he earned four varsity letters and played more than any other freshman or sophomore. Saturday Evening Post magazine labeled Shoaf the Outstanding Sophomore Tackle in the Midwest and he was later dubbed First Team Little All-State. By his senior season, he was named Little All-America, Honorable Mention and helped anchor Coach Frazier's line as one of the great "big men" in Wabash football history.

In 1957 he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and later signed a professional football contract to play in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts. Shoaf also helped inaugurate the Wabash wrestling team and a year later, in 1956-57, Shoaf captained the first varsity wrestling team under Coach Chuck Sanders. Shoaf's business, Gil Shoaf Enterprises, represented 20 sporting goods companies and had a volume exceeding $3 million. He served as president and sat on the board of directors of the 3,000 member Sport Goods Agents Association.