the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

Harold Nichols (March 22, 1917 – February 22, 1997) was an American collegiate

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 ...

and wrestling coach. As a coach, primarily at

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 ...

, he won six

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

over 37 seasons. Nichols' wrestlers won 38 NCAA individual championships and seven medals at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

College wrestler

A native of

Cresco, Iowa Cresco is a city in Howard County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,888 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 3,905 at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 census. It is the county seat of Howard County, Iowa, Howard Co ...

, Nichols attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

to wrestle under legendary wrestling coach,

Cliff Keen Clifford Patrick Keen (June 13, 1901 – November 4, 1991) was an American coach who served as the head coach of the University of Michigan collegiate wrestling team from 1925 to 1970. He led the Michigan Wolverines to 13 Big Ten Conference ...

. While at Michigan, Nichols won the

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

NCAA wrestling championship in the 145-pound weight class. He interrupted his college studies to serve in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in World War II as a pilot, reaching the rank of Lieutenant. After the war, he received a master's degree at the University of Illinois and a doctorate at Michigan.

Wrestling coach

Arkansas State

After finishing his schooling, Nichols began his coaching career at Arkansas State University, Arkansas State in 1948. The school did not have a wrestling program yet so he served as an assistant in Arkansas State Red Wolves football, football and Arkansas State Red Wolves men's basketball, basketball and the head coach in track & field as well as swimming. In 1949 he was able to implement a wrestling program and amass a 37-18-3 record in five seasons.

Iowa State

When Hugo Otopalik unexpectedly died in 1953, Harold Nichols was the only person Iowa State interviewed to replace him. He would go on to helm the Iowa State Cyclones wrestling, Iowa State wrestling program for 32 years. During his time at Iowa State, his teams went 483–94–14 in addition to not finishing outside the top four at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, NCAA Tournament from 1957 to 1983. His teams won six NCAA Championships in 1965 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships, 1965, 1969 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships, 1969, 1970 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships, 1970, 1972 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships, 1972, 1973 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships, 1973 and 1977 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, 1977 and seven List of Big Eight Conference champions#Wrestling, Big Eight Championships 1958, 1970, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982. His wrestlers won 38 individual NCAA championships, 91 individual Big Eight Championships and seven Olympic medals. He was considered to be "ahead of his time concerning race relations," and was a pioneer in bringing minorities into college wrestling, including African Americans, Hispanics and Cubans. Nichols' pupil, Dan Gable, went on to coach wrestling at the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling, University of Iowa for 21 years. Nichols retired in 1985.

Pottery collector

In addition to wrestling, Nichols had a passion for collecting pottery. In 1983, he appeared on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' with a seven-foot-tall vase from his collection, considered one of the world's largest.

Honors

Nichols was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1983. He was named national coach of the year three times and Wrestling Man of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News. He was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Helms Foundation Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Family and death

Nichols died in February 1997 at age 79 in Ames, Iowa. He was survived by his wife, Ruth, and sons William and Harold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Harold 1917 births 1997 deaths Iowa State Cyclones wrestling coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves men's basketball coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves track and field coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves swimming coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves wrestling coaches Michigan Wolverines wrestlers People from Cresco, Iowa Sportspeople from Ames, Iowa American wrestlers University of Illinois alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II