John Smith's Top 25 moments: 5-1

In this series, Oklahoma State's wrestling coach John Smith, who wraps up his 25th year at the helm of the program, reflects on some of his top moments during his coaching career. Here are his top-five moments.

5: Winning first NCAA team title
"In 1994, we won the program's 30th national championship and my first national championship as a coach. It was exciting and it was thrilling the way we did it, but more importantly it was a great team effort. Administratively, getting through severe penalties we received and being able to keep some guys here and piece the team together quickly - we couldn't have done it without our administration or the team's work in order to accomplish it."

4: Being the towel boy at the 1978 Big Eight Championships
"Although this wasn't in my coaching career ,it was still substantial. I had the opportunity at 12 years old to be at the Big Eight tournament in 1978, where I was a towel boy and I was running out onto the mat and hitting the ref with the towel. Of course, that was the Daryl Monasmith match that put us over the top to win the conference. I was glued. I was a Cowboy then and forever. That experience had such an impression on me and it's why I still love Oklahoma State today."

3: Winning fourth NCAA team title in a row
"Winning our fourth national championship in 2006. Just doing something your program has done and matching something that's been done in your history was really exciting for me. We didn't beat it, but we matched it and anytime you're reaching those kind of levels it adds to your legacy as a program and that's what we're always fighting for."

2: Getting to coach family members
"Family success. Our family is tight here. I got the chance to coach my brother, my nephews Zach and Matt White and Chris Perry and my son, Joe. It doesn't get better. That doesn't mean it's easy or that it gets easy, but there's a sense of pride every day when you come into the room. Pat Smith's four championships leads this group. It has strong impressions on me. It was a great experience to be there with him and watch him do it. Chris Perry winning two NCAA championships was a great experience and watching Matt and Zach start for the Cowboys and of course watching my son win a Big 12 championship last week. Those are experiences that will always be at the top of my list."

1: Five Cowboys winning individual titles in 2005
"Five NCAA champions in one year. It was something we knew we could do, but on paper the odds were against us. Of course that year we won our third in a row back in 2005. There's just no greater feeling as a coach. You coach kids from all across the country with the dream of being a national champion and when you win half the individual titles, you're helping them not only reach their individual goals, but that year we reached our team goal as well of winning a team championship. I can never remember a year of being so proud of watching our guys take the stand."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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