Coach O. C. "Pop" VARNER began his coaching career at Delphos High School where he remained for six years. While coaching the Delphos team, Coach VARNER experienced his first championship win at the 1924 Ringgold County Basketball Tournament held at Mount Ayr. Delphos defeated Mount Ayr, 22-21. During Coach VARNER's tenure at Delphos, the team won 3 county championships and one 2nd place title.

Coach VARNER accepted a position at Diagonal High School in 1930. His Diagonal Maroons won 11 county tournaments, 14 sectional tournaments, and 11 district tournaments. The Maroons placed 4th in the 1935 Iowa State Tournament. Under the direction of Coach VARNER, the Diagonal Maroons won the 1938 Iowa State Championship and placed second in 1939. During Coach VARNER's sixteen years at Diagonal, the team won 466 games and lost 98 games.

Coach VARNER accepted a position at Mount Ayr High School in 1946. Under his leadership, Mount Ayr won five Bluegrass Conference titles and tied once with a record of 70 conference wins and 8 losses. Coach VARNER's record at Mount Ayr was 120 wins and 36 losses. Of the 35 Ringgold County Tournaments, Coach VARNER claimed 18 championships and took teams to 28 of the tournaments. Combined, his teams won 586 games and lost 134 games over his twenty-eight year career. He was named to the IHSAA Basketball Hall of Fame.

Coach VARNER suffered a stroke in 1952 which forced him into retirement.

The 1953 Ringgold County Tournament presented a special tribute to Coach VARNER. He was presented with a trophy, inscribed "To Pop VARNER, Dean of Iowa Class B basketball, in deep appreciation of his able teaching, sense of fair play and oustanding coaching contribution to our community and the State of Iowa."

Coach VARNER and his wife moved to Clearfield where they lived the remainder of their lives.

Omer "Pop" VARNER was born on February 8, 1884, and died March 13, 1966.
Nina (STEPHENS) VARNER was born June 8, 1889, and died April 19, 1979.
Paul L. VARNER was born in 1916, and died in 1981.
They were interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa.

SOURCES:
Ringgold County History Complied and written by the Iowa Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Iowa, Sponsored by Ringgold County Superintendent of Schools, Mount Ayr, Iowa. 1942.

Mount Ayr Record-News, Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, February 10, 2007

AVITT, Mike. Pages and Pictures from the Past. . .Ringgold County, Iowa 1855-2005 Pp. 60-3. Paragon Publications, Inc. Mount Ayr. 2009.

Compilation by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2009

Ringgold County Bulletin
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 19, 1973

An International Quarterly, Intended to Promote
Loving Loyalty To The Old Home and The Old Friends

Pop Varner one of the area's great coaches

Any list of great high school coaches of southern Iowa would be incomplete wihtout the name of "Pop" VANER.

His entire coaching career was spent in Ringgold county, first at Delphos, later at Diagonal and at Mount Ayr. His material was always limited in numbers and usually physique. He took ordinary boys and welded them into extraordinary teams. His greatest achievement was the State Champsionship won by his 1938 Diagonal Maroons.

Quoted from Harold TURNBULL's "Country Side" column in 1966:

"Pop's" record at Delphos has not been preserved, however he had some great teams there in the early twenties and in 1928 his Delphos team played and defeated Roosevelt High of Des Moines.

Coming to Diagonal in 1930, "Pop" started a long record of winning county, sectional and district titles, climaxed by the winning of the state tournament in 1938. In a 16-year span, the Maroons won 466 games while losing 98. At Mount Ayr, under "Pop," the Raiders won the county three times, the district once, and took six sectional crowns. In Bluegrass Conference play, the records was five championships, one tie and an over-all record of 70 victories against 8 losses. Against all foes, his Raiders won 120 while losing 36.

Mr. VARNER developed many outstanding players during his career. One of these was Dick IVES, only 17 in his freshman year at Iowa University where he later was All-American. Another brilliant player was Corwin "Boney" BONEBRAKE, 1935 all-starter and recognized as one of the greatest dribblers and ball handlers ever to play in a state tournament. Many lesser-known players, some with a minimum of natural ability, were brought to stardom by "Pop's" uncanny ability to get absolute top performance from every boy on his squad.

Coach VARNER'S ability to diagnose the strength and weaknesses of opposing teams turned many an apparent defeat into victory. Time after time the Maroons would be down 10 to 20 points in an important game only to come storming back to win. Their offense came to be regarded as comparable to the home-run power of the Yankees, and a close game was never lost until the final whistle.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010