Bobby Douglas
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Robert Edward Douglas (born March 27, 1942) is a retired American freestyle wrestler and coach. He competed as a featherweight at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and placed fourth in 1964. He won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1966 and 1970 world championships, respectively, and retired later in 1970. After that Douglas coached several U.S Olympic teams, is one of only four collegiate coaches to win more than 400 dual meets, and he won an NCAA team national title at Arizona State in 1988. His coaching accomplishments include: 13 NCAA champions, 110 All-America performances, and 68 conference titles. Douglas added to his legacy by coaching
Cael Sanderson Cael Norman Sanderson ( ; born June 20, 1979) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler who is the current head coach of Penn State's wrestling team. As a wrestler, he won an Olympic gold medal and was undefeated in four years of ...
to a gold medal in the 185-pound weight class at the
2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in
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. Douglas was named the 2004 USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year. In January 2005, Douglas was honored with the Edward Clark Gallagher Award, which is presented annually to the
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...
wrestling alumnus who exemplifies the spirit and leadership eminent in the tradition of champions. He also received the 2005
Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...
Alumni Association Impact Award. In 1968, Douglas defeated
Dan Gable Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Gable is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a World gold medalist ...
11–1 in a
freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...
match during the Olympic Trials in Ames, Iowa while Gable's only defeat in
folkstyle wrestling Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of amateur wrestling, wrestling practiced at the Tertiary education, post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the Secon ...
in high school and college came in the NCAA finals of his senior year at Iowa State in 1970 to Larry Owings. Douglas was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1985, the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stil ...
as a Distinguished Member in 1987,Bobby Douglas
''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
the Arizona Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1999, the Dan Brands Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Ovac Hall of Fame in 2004. In his career, he has coached many Olympians who placed in the top three in the world. He coached the
Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...
wrestling team for many years before stepping down in favor of Cael Sanderson in 2006.


Competitive career

Born into poverty, he excelled in athletics. At Bridgeport High School he wrestled, played running back in football, and played baseball. Douglas rose to the top in wrestling by capturing the Ohio 112-pound weight class crown in 1959 as a sophomore. He also won the 127-pound title as a senior. Though Douglas is often credited with being the first black Ohio high school state titlist, the honor rightly belongs to a 145-pound senior from John Adams named Ludie Graddy, who beat Euclid's Bill Murphy, 4–3, in the state championship match in 1958. Douglas began his college wrestling career at nearby West Liberty State College, located across the Ohio River in West Virginia. He wrestled there for two years and captured an NAIA championship and was second in the NCAA Championships. He then transferred to Oklahoma State, where he won the Big Eight Conference 147-pound crown. The Cowboys never lost a dual meet with Douglas in the lineup, and captured a pair of conference championships and the 1964 NCAA team title. On the senior level, Douglas captured five national championships and a pair of U.S. Olympic Trials titles. He had a fourth-place featherweight finish at the 1964 Olympics in
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and captained the U.S. Olympic freestyle team at the
1968 Olympics 1968 Olympics may refer to: * 1968 Summer Olympics, which were held in Mexico City, Mexico * 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 Feb ...
in
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. He won a silver and a bronze medal at the 1966 and 1970 world championships, respectively, and placed fourth in 1969. He was named the USA's outstanding wrestler in 1970, the year he retired. He accumulated a career record of 303–17–7 (.953) from his high school days through his World Championship competition.


Honors

In 1987, Douglas was inducted into the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stil ...
, following his enshrinement into the NAIA Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1985. Douglas is also a member of the Ohio Hall of Fame, and in 1999 was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame. He is a supporter of the Jason Foundation, a youth suicide awareness and prevention foundation. Douglas is one of the great technicians in the sport. He has written several books on wrestling technique: Takedown I, Takedown II, Pinning and Olympic Technique, Take It To The Mat, Wrestling Skills and Drills, and The Last Takedown. He is one of a handful of gold certified U.S. coaches.


Personal life

He earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from Oklahoma State in 1967 and a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
from ASU in 1981, where he was admitted to the doctoral program. Douglas and his wife, Jackie, have one son, Bobby Douglas Jr., and reside in
Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Bobby 1942 births Living people Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers Iowa State Cyclones wrestling coaches Olympic wrestlers for the United States Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers American wrestling coaches African-American sport wrestlers 20th-century American sportsmen