Central Oklahoma boasts a storied wrestling tradition and has always been a player on the national stage, but it took a long-overdue project to fully appreciate the rich history of the program.
With the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the spring sports seasons – and, sadly, the need to work games – the task became to start putting in past schedules on bronchosports.com.
I started with wrestling and the last schedule listed was 2006-07, which was the season UCO captured its 15th national championship. It took a lot of research to find all the dates from the early years, but 53 schedules later the job was done.
And it was an eye-opening project in a variety of ways.
Here are some tidbits I gleaned from this research.
Central wasn't scheduled to field a team in 1922, but Oklahoma State had a team back out of a scheduled dual so the Bronchos put together a squad and wrestled their first-ever dual on March 2, 1922, losing a 34-12 decision to the Cowboys in Stillwater. The Bronchos had just two matches the next year, losing to OSU and tying Oklahoma, and four in 1924 before taking a year off.
UCO had a team from 1925 to 1940, was inactive off six years for World War II and returned for the 1946-47 season before going on a long hiatus that didn't end until the program was restored in 1972.
There were seven individual weight classes when the program started – not 10 like there are now – and that grew to eight in the late 1920s. Matches were 10 minutes long (it's seven now) and overtime consisted of a pair of three-minute periods. For decades the only way to win was by fall or time advantage, which is the equivalent of riding time. No points were scored. You won by fall (say in 9:15) or by time advantage (say in 1:46).
There was only one NCAA division in the early days, so UCO competed with OU, OSU and the like. And the Bronchos held their own, finishing in the top 10 at the national tournament four times in the 1930s. That was highlighted by a runner-up showing in 1936 behind champions Ted Anderson (123 pounds) and Ray Clemons (191).
Most of the other state schools fielded teams – Southwestern, Southeastern, East Central, Oklahoma City and Northwestern. SWOSU was actually a national power during the 1920s and '30s and the Bulldogs are one of just four non-Division I teams to own a series advantage over UCO (13-9).
Tragedy struck when Central traveled by train for a dual in Ada against ECU on Jan. 24, 1930. A coal stove used to heat the rail car UCO was in exploded, injuring James Callahan and Louie Andersen. The train stopped in Shawnee so the two could be transported to a hospital and the rest of the team continued to Ada, forfeited two weights and battled ECU to a 16-16 tie. Sadly, Callahan died two days later.
Anderson has always been considered UCO's first-ever national champion, but this research discovered that Louis Tomlinson actually won a national title the year before (1935) when he took the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) crown at 145 pounds. The AAU National Tournament was considered harder than the NCAAs in those days and Tomlinson – runner-up to three-time champion Wayne Martin of OU in the NCAA meet two weeks earlier – beat Martin in the AAU tournament.
When UCO reinstated the program in 1972 it was as a member of NAIA and the Bronchos were an immediate power, finishing fourth in the national tournament that first season. Central was a member of both NCAA Division II and NAIA in 1975-76, coming in 11th in D2 and third in NAIA. The Bronchos were D2 the next year (finishing seventh) and then went back to NAIA.
Many "name" Division I programs sponsored wrestling in the 1970s and early '80s, with a number of those visiting Hamilton Field House to challenge UCO. Among those that came to Edmond were OU, OSU, Alabama, LSU, Oregon, UCLA, Nebraska, Kentucky, BYU, Kansas State and Colorado State. The Bronchos pulled off a huge 21-18 upset of then-Big 10 power UCLA on Jan. 15, 1976 when heavyweight Richard Long scored a fall in the final match and Central roasted the Crimson Tide 35-6 to close out the 1978-79 dual campaign.
Central claimed the first of its 15 national championships in 1979 and the Bronchos won again in '81 and '82 – with Adams State finishing second all three times. The 1981 team is arguably the best in school history after racking up a then NAIA-record 155 ¼ points behind six individual champions (Dennis Kendrick, Todd Osborn, Ronnie James, Alan Maddox, Benny Coleman and Bill Ameen). That squad wrestled 11 Division I schools, going 6-5, and outpointed Adams by a staggering 70 points in the national tournament. The six individual champions is still a record for most by one school in any division – NCAA I, II, III or NAIA.
Amazingly, UCO finished first or second in the national tournament 13 consecutive years from 1984-96, winning five NAIA and four NCAA Division II championships during that incredible stretch.
The 1991-92 team went 14-1 in duals and the lone loss was perhaps the most crushing in school history, a 17-16 setback to OU in Norman in the season finale. UCO led 17-11 going into the final match and then heavyweight Fay Barnett was disqualified for stalling with one second – one second!! – remaining in the final period. That gave the Sooners six points to pull even at 17, but head coach David James was docked a team point for arguing the call with the official and the Sooners literally stole the victory. Central bounced back from that devastating defeat to win its first-ever Division II national championship a month later.
The 1993-94 team could challenge the 1980-81 squad as Central's best. The Bronchos went 12-2 in duals and finished seventh in the National Duals, which at that time included the defending D2, D3 and NAIA national champions along with the 13 best D1 teams. UCO beat No. 4 Michigan (24-13), No. 10 Fresno State (43-9) and D3 champ Wartburg (37-2) while falling to Penn State and Nebraska in that tournament. UCO finished with eight All-Americans, crowned four champions (Brian Melchiori, Ryan Martin, Jerry Best and Wes White) and rolled up 127 ¼ points, 62 ahead of runner-up Minnesota State-Mankato.
The 2001-02 team can't be overlooked. The Bronchos went 15-1, with the lone loss to OU in the dual opener, and had four gold medalists (Cole Province, Matt Dodgen, Shawn Silvis and Muahammed Lawal) in finishing with 128 points.
UCO won national championships in bunches – back-to-back in 1981 and '82, four straight from 1984-87, four straight from 1992-95 and back-to-back in 2002 and '03. The Bronchos are tied for first in NAIA team titles (eight) and tied for third in NCAA Division II team championships (seven).
Central is one of just three schools to have had two four-time individual national champions. Johnny Nimmo won NAIA titles in 1987, '88 and '89 before claiming his fourth in Division II in 1990, while Cole Province took Division II titles in 2001, '02, '03 and '04. Lock Haven and Simon Fraser are the only other schools with multiple four-time champs.
It was established long ago that UCO has had dozens of great teams over the decades, but the Bronchos didn't put together their first unblemished dual season until 2016-17. Central went a perfect 18-0 that year, winning three duals by three or less points.
Suffice it to say, UCO has an amazing wrestling legacy. And it continues to this day.
