Boxing teams are thought to be rough, mean and rugged.

The ISU Boxing Club has those qualities, and more.

Terry Dowd has been ISU boxing coach for 27 years. He said he has been lucky having a lot of good young people.

“Over a thousand of my kids have graduated,” Dowd said. “The kids [at Iowa State] are here to graduate, nothing else. Everybody I have coached for 27 years have graduated, and that’s the main thing.

“I am proud that nobody has ever been in trouble; they act like gentlemen. I tell my boxers at Iowa State that they represent the university and me, so act like it. Be a person, not a jerk. If I find out that you are a jerk, you’re gone.”

Dowd tells his boxers that he coaches professional people, not professional athletes. Some of his athletes have had good careers after the boxing club.

On one 12-man team, Dowd had two doctors and three lawyers.

“A lot of my kids have gone into teaching and the police service,” Dowd said. “I also had kids that are now working in the FBI, Marshals Service and the CIA. I have been lucky that [the boxers] have represented themselves very well.”

Dowd said he loves being the coach and wouldn’t know what he would do if he wasn’t.

“I have seen a lot of kids become men and women,” Dowd said. “I have coached 23 national champions and 43 all-Americans.”

Dowd said there are some guidelines to follow to be part of the ISU Boxing Club. To work out, a member must have a 2.5 grade point average. He or she needs a 3.0 to compete.

“If you have good grades and don’t act like a jerk, you can be on the team,” Dowd said.

After Dowd returned from the Vietnam War, he had a stroke and some bouts with seizures. Boxer Brett Welling, freshman in chemical engineering, said the presence of Dowd as his coach has been an inspiration.

“His heart is huge. He is always willing to be there for you, in and outside the ring,” Welling said. “He rarely misses practices and he always wants to prove something to himself. Just by having him around, always makes you want to be better.”

Welling also said that he would not have made it at Iowa State his first year without Dowd.

“He is more than the boxing coach, he is a friend. He is just the greatest guy and helps make practice really fun,” Welling said.

In the ring, Welling said, he has learned a lot from Dowd.

“He showed me the different sparring styles, different moves in the ring and how to get out of a corner,” Welling said.

Dowd said skills are taught at an appropriate pace.

“After three or four months, they start to spar,” he said. “The first thing is that we don’t embarrass people and we don’t get people hurt,” Dowd said. “We are a boxing team.”

Last year, Welling won his weight class in the Golden Gloves in Des Moines.

Since he fought professionally in the Golden Gloves, he might be ineligible to compete for the club.

“I currently can’t fight in the [National Collegiate Boxing Association], but I think it will be overturned,” Welling said. “I just wanted to fight in the Golden Gloves. I might be ineligible for just entering the tournament.”

The schedule for the boxing club will start Oct. 25 with an exhibition in Des Moines. Nationals for the NCBA will be in November. March will bring two matches for the club: nationals in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati.

Dowd and Welling agree that this year should be a really good year for the team.

There are five returning boxers, led by Ryan Allan, who was named the team captain. Joshua Demmer and Allan were both regional champions last year. That nucleus, along with Welling, Jamie Anderson and Duran Barlow, brings leadership to the team.

Welling said the club has some big goals set for the year.

“As a team, we want to be ranked in the regionals and nationals, and I think we will,” Welling said. “We just want to support the team as whole.”

Dowd said Allan’s experience gained last year will indeed pay dividends.

“Ryan is a returning regional champion and missed the Olympic team by one point,” Dowd said. “He was named outstanding boxer in his last two tournaments. The only losses he has were to a national champion from the Air Force Academy.”