Impact Of A Scholarship: Daniel Framm

Ninety-four-year-old Daniel Framm made his return to the University of Maryland for the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 10. He got to experience how much Maryland’s wrestling program and the university have grown since he last competed on the mat 75 years ago.

Born in Hagerstown, MD, on Oct. 3, 1929, Framm went on to become a varsity wrestler at Maryland and competed for head coach William "Sully" Krouse from 1947-49. He won more than 80 percent of his matches and wrestled in the 128-pound weight class. But a scholarship and an opportunity made it all possible.

Framm wrestled his senior year at Baltimore City College High School in 1946 after transferring from Hagerstown High School. However, his wrestling career as a Terp happened by accident.

“I enjoyed always trying to prove myself and learning new techniques,” Framm said. “I couldn’t afford [college] though. I came from a very limited socioeconomic background.”

The Maryland native was limited in his opportunities to attend college. His mother and father passed away before he was a teenager, so he was raised by his stepmom and older brothers and sisters. He and his family found a way to make ends meet, and he chose to become a Terp, where he continued to wrestle for fun as an intramural sport.

Framm caught Krouse’s attention one day and was invited to try out for the varsity team. He impressed the coach and was offered a spot on the team. Maryland’s varsity wrestling program was created by Krouse just seven years before that point when he was a student. The coach always sought ways to recruit and build his program.

The wrestler made his coach aware of his financial situation and he received a working scholarship to help pay for his education. Framm cleaned dorm rooms for the three years he wrestled at Maryland in Silvester Hall.

“I was very thankful for the opportunity,” Framm said. “Coach got me involved and I was even able to get extra pay by selling tickets for the football games and working as a cashier at the different sports arenas. Collecting that little extra money helped us get some scholarship money.”

Framm forwent his senior wrestling season as he was accepted into the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1950 to study pre-med. He received a scholarship to attend the school in Baltimore. It was a scholarship from the Straus Foundation.

“It was a godsend to have that kind of help from the University of Maryland, also from Aaron Straus, because otherwise I would never have made it,” Framm said. “We had no income at all. We were at a very limited budget coming up.”

Framm interned for a year at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore and later went into the Air Force for two years. He was stationed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga as a general physician. After leaving the Air Force in 1957, he went to Georgia Baptist Hospital and worked to become a pediatrician.

He practiced as a pediatrician in Chattanooga, TN, until 1967. Framm then decided to change fields. He went into ophthalmology and spent time at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins. He began practicing ophthalmology in Vienna, VA, until retiring at 88 years old. 

Framm went through lots of education in his life, but he attributes all his later success to where he started at Maryland as a wrestler.

“It's the only thing I had going for me,” Framm said. “I couldn't afford to go anyplace else but inside the state, so getting a chance to go to the University of Maryland and wrestle and also advance my academic passions made me feel very, very successful.”

The former Terp wrestler even gave back to Maryland athletics. He was a member of the Terrapin Club and donated to the University of Maryland Medical School as both were a key part of his journey.

His return to College Park was long-awaited. He attended the Big Ten championship with his son David, and grandson Jake. Both were wrestlers, and David was the first Maryland wrestling state champion at Winston Churchill High School in 1978.

Framm resides in Potomac, MD, with his wife, Myra. He says he missed his days wrestling at Maryland.

“It was a wonderful time in my life,” Framm said. “I worked hard, and I enjoyed it. I loved the camaraderie of being with members of the team. I miss traveling with the coach and going down to different schools like NC State, Duke, and North Carolina. We had a wonderful time.”