Flymph
Life of the Party
If you are a College Wrestling fan you will remember the first African American College Wrestling coach, Bobby Douglas. Some of his other achievements include: Two Ohio HS State Wrestling Championships for Bridgeport High School. Following HS, he attended West Liberty College, where he won an NAIA title as a freshman and finished as runner-up at the NCAA Division 1 tournament. He then transferred to Oklahoma State where he won a Big Eight Conference title. He competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics as a featherweight, placing 4th in 1964. He also won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1966 and 1970 world championships!
Following his competitive career, Douglas became the first ever African American college wrestling coach in the country when he took the HC role at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He also coached for several years at Arizona State and Iowa State. He coached ASU to an NCAA team national title in 1988! He coached 13 NCAA champions (including
undefeated 4X NCAA Champ, Cael Sanderson) and was the 2000 NWCA National Coach of the Year. He finished with a 427-170-9 dual meet record! He was the first African American to wrestle in the Olympics, the first African American to be named captain of the Olympic team, the first African American to coach wrestling at a major university, was the first African American U.S. Olympic Team HC in 1992 and was the first African American athlete to enter the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1987!
Rip Coach Douglas.
Following his competitive career, Douglas became the first ever African American college wrestling coach in the country when he took the HC role at the University of California-Santa Barbara. He also coached for several years at Arizona State and Iowa State. He coached ASU to an NCAA team national title in 1988! He coached 13 NCAA champions (including
Rip Coach Douglas.
