the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...

Carl Adams (born November 27, 1950) is an American retired

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, coach, and businessman.

Early life

Adams grew up in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, adjo ...

attending Brentwood Ross High School. His senior year he wrestled under legendary coach Joe Campo at 157 lbs and never lost a dual meet en route to winning the State Championship at his weight class.

Wrestling career

Following his standout prep career, Adams continued his wrestling at Iowa State. As a freshman he wrestled at the 152 lbs weight class where he compiled a 9–2–1 dual mark and finished fifth at the NCAA Championship. That same season, the Cyclones took home the team title that year for the first time since 1965. Adams won his only

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

championship in 1970, but was unable to place in the top eight at nationals as the Cyclones won back-to-back NCAA team titles. However, Adams was able to master his weight class in his final two seasons. In 1971, Adams was 9–2–1 in duals and won his first NCAA title by beating

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

's Mike Jones 18–5 in the championship match. Adams did not lose a dual match in his senior season (16–0–1) and capped off his second consecutive individual national title with a 7–4 decision against Stan Dziedzic from Slippery Rock. He was one of three Cyclone individual national titlists in 1972 (

Ben Peterson Benjamin or Ben Peterson may refer to: *Ben Peterson (wrestler) Benjamin Lee Peterson (born June 27, 1950) is a retired American freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal, respectively. As ...

, Chris Taylor), as the Cyclones were national champions for the third time in Adams' four seasons with the Cyclones. Adams concluded his collegiate career with a dual record of 45–4–4. After ending his ISU career continued to excel on the mat at the international level. Adams won the AAU 163-pound national championship in 1973 and 1975 and placed fifth in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

World Team Championship held in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. He won a silver medal at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. In 2019, Adams 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 ...

as a Distinguished Member.

Coaching

After spending time on the

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 ...

circuit, he began to coach. He started as an assistant in 1973 at his alma mater, Iowa State, and then his first head coaching job was at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

; after that program was cut as a result of

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

, he took over the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

program where was the head coach from 1981 until the program's end in 2014. After the wrestling program was dropped, Adams transitioned into an administrative role titled Coordinator of Student-Athlete Services which he still holds today. Additionally, he runs the Carl Adams World Class Wrestling Camp, innovated several wrestling takedown machines, and has published books and videos about the sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Carl Living people 1950 births American male sport wrestlers American wrestling coaches Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York) alumni Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in wrestling Boston University Terriers wrestling coaches 20th-century American sportsmen