Oklahoma State University Athletics
Why OSU?
June 21, 2006 | Cowboy Wrestling
In 1928, the NCAA sponsored its first national tournament, and A&M shifted its emphasis toward winning that meet. Oklahoma State won the first NCAA wrestling championship and has won 32 such trophies since — more than any other school in the country. The Cowboys have won 912 dual meets, lost only 91 and tied 20 in 91 years of varsity competition. O-State clinched or shared an impressive 25 Big Eight titles out of a possible 38 while a member of the league from 1958 to 1996. Since joining the Big 12 in 1996, OSU has claimed seven of the nine titles. In the early years under coach Gallagher, the Oklahoma A&M squads won seven NAAU titles, six Southwest Conference titles and four Missouri Valley Conference titles.
Coach Gallagher passed away with pneumonia in 1940, leaving a legacy of 11 team championships behind, the most of any OSU coach, but his absence did not mean a decline in O-State's wrestling fortunes. Six other coaches have worked hard to keep OSU at the top of the national wrestling charts. Art Griffith, the successful mentor at Tulsa (Okla.) Central High School, succeeded Gallagher in 1941 and captured two straight national titles before the war forced the Aggies to take three years off from the mat. Griffith resumed his winning ways in 1946, taking six more championships in his remaining 11 years of coaching.
A young Myron Roderick was named head coach in 1957, taking over for Griffith, who resigned due to health reasons. At 23, Roderick became the youngest coach to win a national collegiate championship when his 1958 Cowboys won the first of seven for him. He stepped down in 1970 and took an executive position with the U.S. Wrestling Federation, making way for former Stillwater (Okla.) High School coach Tommy Chesbro, who captured eight Big Eight titles and a single NCAA championship in 15 years. From 1985 to 1991, Joe Seay, formerly at Cal State-Bakersfield, had five conference team champions and two national titles.
In 1993, a new era began as John Smith became the seventh head coach in Oklahoma State school history. In his first full year on the job, coach Smith once again led the Cowboys to the title, claiming OSU's 30th NCAA national championship. Smith has now led the Cowboys to the last three team titles, and they now have 34 championships. That's more national titles than any other school has in any other sport. During the remarkable history of OSU wrestling, unbeaten streaks of 70 (1921-32 under Gallagher), 73 (1996-2000 under Smith), 76 (1937-51 under Gallagher and Griffith) and 84 (1959-66 under Roderick) duals were reeled off by the Cowboys.
SUMMARY OF NCAA CHAMPIONS
Eighty Oklahoma State wrestlers have won 130 individual NCAA championships. The Cowboys tied an NCAA record by crowning five individual champions in 2005. Six other times in the NCAA, the Cowboys produced four individual champions in eight possible weights, an unparalleled record (There are now 10 weight divisions in NCAA competition). OSU has finished first as a team 33 times in the 75 years the NCAA Championships have been held, including the tie in 1933. The NCAA did not keep team points in 1928 and 1930-33; therefore, the team championships are considered “unofficial” by the governing body during those years. The Cowboys have finished second 11 times and third 11 times. At least one individual champion has been from Oklahoma State in 61 of the 75 NCAA tournaments.
