Dynasty Defined: Cowboy Wrestling Tradition

By any measure, Oklahoma State is the gold standard within the world of college wrestling.

On the national level, the Cowboys have won 34 NCAA team titles, crowned 141 NCAA individual champions and earned 450 All-America honors. No other program even comes close to those astounding numbers.

It's a similar story on the conference level, with OSU winning 51 league titles as a team and Cowboy wrestlers combining to win 277 individual conference championships.

Furthermore, every four years, the O, S and U in Oklahoma State's name could easily be replaced by Olympic Stage University. Since 1924, 32 Oklahoma State wrestlers have fought their way to Olympic team membership a total of 41 times, with nine athletes winning a gold medal a total of 11 times.

From the individual perspective, any list of greatest wrestlers in NCAA history must include Oklahoma State's Yojiro Uetake, who was a perfect 57-0 with three NCAA titles and Pat Smith, who was the first four-time NCAA champion in history.

That list doesn't even include the accomplishments of Pat's older brother, John Smith, who was a two-time NCAA champion for the Cowboys and went on to win a staggering six world-level gold medals from 1987-92 or his OSU teammate, Kenny Monday, who won four world-level medals, including gold in 1988 and 1989.

All told, 27 members of the Cowboy wrestling program are Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and an additional 14 combined to earn Outstanding Wrestler distinction at the NCAA Championships a total of 15 times (Uetake took home the honor twice in 1965 and 1966).

A contributing factor to Oklahoma State wrestlers performing as well as they have over the years is the elite level of coaching that has taken - and continues to - take place in the Cowboy wrestling room on a daily basis.

Ed Gallagher is credited with the title of Father of Intercollegiate Wrestling. He launched Oklahoma State into a dominant position within the sport by coaching the Cowboys to 11 NCAA titles from 1928-1940. His impact on the sport is still felt today.

He was followed by Art Griffith and his eight NCAA titles, then by Myron Roderick and his seven crowns. Tommy Chesbro and Joe Seay combined to win three NCAA titles before John Smith took over and rattled off five NCAA titles and counting.

Dating back to the inception of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 1928, every Oklahoma State head coach has led the Cowboys to at least one NCAA title and Gallagher, Griffith, Roderick, Seay and John Smith have all served as coaches for Team USA at either the Olympics or the World Championships.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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