Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling

The Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling team is the most successful NCAA Division I program of all time in any sport. As of 2021–2022, Oklahoma State wrestling has won 34 team national championships, 143 individual NCAA championships, and 485 All-American honors. History The Oklahoma State wrestling program extends back to the fall of 1914, when A.M. Colville served as the first coach at what was then Oklahoma A&M. The next season, athletic director Edward C. Gallagher would take over as head coach of the team. The team would record its first dual meet win in 1917, defeating Emporia State, 15-10. They went on to pick up another win and a tied decision, to bring the Oklahoma A&M Tigers to a 2-2-1 record by the end of the 1910s. Gallagher coached the first NCAA national championship team in 1928. He would lead the team to 11 of the first 13 NCAA national championships, as his teams won in 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1940. Following Gallagher's death in 1940, Oklahoma A&M looked to find a coach who could continue their winning tradition. For that task, the Cowboys turned to Art Griffith, longtime coach at Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 15 years, Griffith he won 94 of 100 matches, including 50 in a row at one point. Once he arrived in Stillwater, Griffith picked up where Gallagher left off, winning 8 national championships in 13 years. He also continued two streaks left by Gallagher. First, he extended the four consecutive championships Gallagher had left with to seven, finally losing out in 1947 to Cornell College. Second, he extended the 27 consecutive dual meet victory streak to 76, before finally losing in 1951. Griffith's wrestlers won 27 individual championships and were All-Americans 64 times from 1941 to 1956. He retired on top after winning three consecutive NCAA Championships and going 78-7-4 for his career, including ten undefeated teams. One of Griffith's wrestlers, Myron Roderick, was chosen to immediately succeed his former coach following his retirement in 1956. As a wrestler for Griffith, Roderick went 42–2 and became a three-time All-American and two-time national champion from 1954 to 1956. After he returned from the 1956 Olympics, he took over as head coach. His first team was one of his least successful, finishing fourth at nationals with only one champion and three All-Americans.