John Smith - Head Coach - Cowboy Wrestling Coaches - Oklahoma State University Athletics

John Smith

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
john.w.smith@okstate.edu
Phone:
(405) 744-4541

John Smith is a name synonymous with wrestling success.

The Oklahoma State head coach won six consecutive world championships as a competitor from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He captured five national titles as head coach of the Cowboys and finished top-five at the NCAA Championships 21 times, nearly two-thirds of his time at the helm.

Smith accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma State in 1992 and the numbers and accomplishments in that time speak for themselves. He led his alma mater to five NCAA team titles in 1994, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and coached 33 NCAA individual champions. At the conference meet, the Cowboys brought 21 team conference tournament championships, two Big 12 regular season titles and 132 individual conference titles back to Stillwater. He saw his wrestlers earn All-America recognition 153 times, which is believed to be the most in Division I wrestling history and an average of 4.6 All-Americans per year. Additionally, Smith coached a pair of Hodge Trophy recipients in Alex Dieringer and Steve Mocco. Five of Smith’s wrestlers at Oklahoma State also made their way to the Olympic Games, including medalists Jamill Kelly and Coleman Scott.

He was recognized as the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2003 and was a 15-time selection as his conference’s coach of the year (1994 and 1996 in the Big Eight and 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the Big 12).

Smith is OSU’s all-time winningest coach with a dual record of 490-73-6. His 490 dual wins is third overall at the Division I level, only behind Harold Nichols and Dale Thomas. Smith, Nichols and Thomas are the only Division I head coaches to ever reach the 450-win mark. He coached the Cowboys to eight perfect dual seasons and his wrestlers won better than 70% of more than 16,000 bouts, with 13 going on to claim spots on Team USA at the world level.

In his 33rd and final season, the 2023-24 campaign saw Daton Fix and Dustin Plott each make the NCAA finals to earn All-America honors for the third season in a row. At 165 pounds, Izzak Olejnik finished fifth to give the Cowboys their most placers since 2021. Under Smith’s guidance, Fix wrapped up his storied career as the Big 12’s first five-time champion and first five-time All-American in program history. Oklahoma State excelled in dual competition throughout the regular season, winning its first 14 duals to conclude the year with a 14-1 record. Three of those victories came against top-five ranked teams as the Cowboys went on a miraculous run of defeating a ranked opponent in 10 straight duals and led the country with a dozen ranked victories. The Cowboys also set a program record with a season attendance average of 5,871 fans and hosted their first sellout at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 2019. The Pokes would go on to finish second at the Big 12 Championships with 141.5 team points, most by a runner-up in league history.

Prior to 2022, Oklahoma State finished top-three in four of five NCAA Championships dating back to 2016. Third-place finishes in 2019 and 2021 came after undefeated dual seasons and Big 12 tournament titles that were a part of the nine consecutive championships from 2013 to 2021. In both seasons, the Cowboys had a pair of finalists, with Fix taking second at 133 pounds in both instances, while Derek White took runner-up at heavyweight in 2019 and AJ Ferrari won the 197-pound bracket as a true freshman in 2021. The Cowboys also went 13-3 during the shortened 2020 season, crowning three individual conference champions and six being named All-Americans by the NWCA after the NCAA Championships were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Another highlight came in 2017 as Smith guided the Pokes to a 14-1 regular season record before running away with the conference title by claiming eight individual conference champions, tied for most in his tenure. Eight Cowboys would also earn All-America honors that season, led by Dean Heil, who won his second of two NCAA championships at 141 pounds.

From 2013 to 2017, OSU collected two NCAA runner-up finishes (2013, 2016), two third-place finishes (2014, 2017) and a seventh-place finish (2015). During that time, Oklahoma State had 36 individual conference champions, eight individual national champions and 30 All-Americans. Smith coached Alex Dieringer to NCAA titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016, which included receiving the Dan Hodge Trophy in his final year. He also saw his nephew, Chris Perry, win back-to-back NCAA titles at 174 pounds in 2013 and 2014.

Smith began the 2010s with Big 12 tournament titles in 2010 and 2011, and the regular season Big 12 dual match championship in 2012 with a 17-1 record. The Cowboys won the conference crown in 2011 despite boasting the youngest lineup in the league, one of Smith’s many impressive moments throughout his career. During that time, Jordan Oliver captured two national titles in addition to a runner-up finish as he became the 13th four-time All-American at OSU.

As consistent as the program was under his leadership, the highlight of Smith’s tenure came when he led OSU to four consecutive NCAA team championships from 2003 through 2006.

The 2003 squad compiled a perfect 17-0 dual record, won the Big 12 team title, crowned six individual Big 12 champions and featured a pair of NCAA individual champions in Johnny Thompson and Jake Rosholt.

The NCAA champion Chris Pendleton-led squad sported a 17-2 dual record, won the Big 12 team title and crowned four individual Big 12 champions in 2004.

Oklahoma State compiled a 21-0 dual record in 2005 and capped the season with one of the most dominant showings in NCAA history when an NCAA-record five Cowboys were crowned individual champions. Zack Esposito won at 149 pounds with Johny Hendricks taking the 165-pound championship. Pendleton repeated as an NCAA champion at 174 pounds, while Jake Rosholt and Steve Mocco swept the final two classes at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively. OSU wrestlers compiled a 38-9 record at the NCAA Championships that year and the team set school records for points, margin of victory and number of national champions. Oklahoma State’s 153 team points eclipsed second-place Michigan by 70 points.

In 2006, Smith and the Cowboys went 16-2 in duals en route to claiming their fourth consecutive NCAA team title behind the showings of Hendricks and Rosholt, who both won their second consecutive NCAA individual championship.

Smith won his first of five NCAA team championships in 1994 when the Cowboys compiled a 13-1 dual record, won the Big Eight team championship, crowned four conference champions and had three NCAA individual champions in Alan Fried, Mark Branch and Pat Smith, John’s younger brother and the first four-time champion in NCAA history.

From late in 1996 to early in 2000, Smith’s Cowboys went 73 straight duals without a loss, including perfect seasons in 1997, 1998 and 1999. OSU reached 20 wins in each of those three campaigns, while crowning five NCAA champions and 15 conference champions. Eric Guerrero claimed the national title three times in that stretch, becoming Smith’s first three-time NCAA champion.

For all of the championships and success he enjoyed as a coach, it was his career as a wrestler that is the stuff of legend. Smith truly was the best wrestler in the world.

In brief, Smith compiled a 105-5 record as a high school wrestler at Del City High School in Del City, Okla., before beginning his collegiate career at Oklahoma State, where he put together a 152-8-2 record that included a pair of NCAA individual championships in 1987 and 1988. Alongside the titles, Smith’s resume also includes All-America selections in 1985, 1987 and 1988, as well as the 1987 NCAA Outstanding Wrestler award. On the international stage, Smith rolled to a 100-5 career record that included six world championships (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992), two Olympic gold medals (1988 and 1992), two Pan American Games gold medals (1987 and 1991) and two Goodwill Games gold medals (1986 and 1990).

To this day, Smith holds Oklahoma State school records for career victories (152), single-season victories (47 in 1988), career bonus-point wins (113), single-season bonus-point wins (39 in 1987 and 1988) and single-season bonus point win percentage (90.7 in 1987). A three-time Big Eight Conference individual champion in 1985, 1987 and 1988, Smith wrestled primarily at 134 pounds during his collegiate career, where he strung together a 124-4 overall record. He spent some time at 126 pounds, compiling a 27-4-2 overall mark, and won his lone career match at 142.

After Smith’s junior year at Oklahoma State, he won his first world title in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Smith was the only collegiate wrestler to win a world championship while still in college until Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) achieved the feat in 2017. Following Smith’s graduation in 1988, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic freestyle team and came away from the Seoul Olympics with the first of two Olympic gold medals and the second of six consecutive world championships.

Three more world championships ensued in 1989, 1990 and 1991 before Smith claimed the second of his Olympic gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Games to cement his legacy as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time.

His list of awards and honors received befits someone who earned the distinction of being the best wrestler on the planet. Smith was honored as the first wrestler to ever claim the James E. Sullivan Award as America’s outstanding amateur athlete in 1990. He became the first American ever chosen as the Master of Technique and Wrestler of the Year by the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) when he received the honor in 1990. In 1992, Smith was presented with the Amateur Athletic Foundation World Trophy, becoming the first North American wrestler to earn the honor. A 2003 inductee into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Smith was recognized as one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All Time at the 1996 Atlanta Games. That same year, Smith was inducted into the OSU Athletic Hall of Honor.

Smith was the 1991 selection as FILA’s Outstanding Wrestler of the Year after earning Man of the Year honors from Amateur Wrestling News in 1988, Athlete of the Year recognition from USA Wrestling in 1989 and Sportsman of the Year honors from the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1990. In 2004, the U.S. Olympic Committee presented Smith with the Titan Award, and the following year, he joined his brother, Pat, as one of 15 wrestlers named to the NCAA’s 75th Anniversary Team. In 2020, Smith became the first wrestler inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and was recently announced as a member of the AAU Wrestling Hall of Fame class of 2024.

The Smith family legacy is strong at Oklahoma State, as John’s older brother, Lee Roy, was a three-time All-American in 1977, 1979 and 1980 and claimed the 1980 national championship. John was a three-time All-American with a pair of national titles, while his younger brother, Pat, was the NCAA’s first four-time national champion with titles in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994. Pat’s final two trophies came with John guiding him as Oklahoma State’s head coach.

John’s oldest son, Joe, completed his career as a Cowboy in 2020 as a three-time All-American. His next-youngest son, Sam, wrestled for OSU in 2024, his dad’s final season on staff. Smith also coached three of his nephews, including Chris Perry, who was a two-time NCAA champion before serving under his uncle as an assistant coach from 2018-24.

Smith also successfully established a wrestling club that allows wrestlers from across the country to prepare and train for international competition. The Gator Wrestling Club sent three former Oklahoma State wrestlers to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games. There, Jamill Kelly won the silver medal, with Daniel Cormier finishing fourth and Eric Guerrero also representing the USA.

He remained involved in American freestyle wrestling throughout his coaching career, leading the USA Olympic Wrestling Team to a second-place finish at the 2000 Olympics and a fifth-place finish in 2012. In the latter, Coleman Scott earned a bronze medal to become the fifth and final pupil of Smith’s to win an Olympic medal. He also coached the U.S. at the Senior World Championships four times and was named the 2017 USA Wrestling Women’s Co-Coach of the Year. Smith also drew praise from the wrestling world for his work as an analyst with NBC for wrestling later in his career.

Smith also built a coaching tree as impressive as anyone in the country. At the time of his retirement, his former wrestlers serving as head coaches included Wyoming head coach Mark Branch, NC State head coach Pat Popolizio, Oregon State head coach Chris Pendleton, Army head coach Kevin Ward, North Dakota State head coach Obe Blanc, Little Rock head coach Neil Erisman, Appalachian State head coach John Mark Bentley and countless others at all levels of the sport.

In 1995, Smith married the former Toni Donaldson. The couple has three sons – Joe, Sam and Levi and two daughters – Isabelle and Cecilia.