EDMOND – Last week's Friday Feature focused on the first of Central Oklahoma's 20 team national championships, which the 1962 football team won in polishing off an unbeaten season.
It would be another 17 years before another Broncho squad would hoist a championship trophy, but once again it was done in dominating fashion. The 1978-79 wrestling team started UCO's mat dynasty with an overwhelming performance at the NAIA National Championships, outpointing runner-up Adams State by more than 30 points.
Central wasn't expected to be a championship contender, entering the season ranked No. 7 after a fourth-place national finish in 1978. Junior standouts David James and Jeff Robinett spearheaded a mostly unproven lineup and Eddie Griffin was in his first season as head coach.
But the Bronchos weren't to be denied.
UCO finished 7-3 in duals, with its losses to Division I OU and LSU along with Division II power Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Griffin's gang beat three Division I teams – highlighted by a 35-6 beatdown of Alabama at Hamilton Field House – and finished runner-up in three Division I-dominated tournaments during the regular season.
That season-long consistency, despite having to deal with several lineup changes throughout, enabled the Bronchos to gain the No. 1 ranking heading into the national tournament. The stage was set for the NAIA National Championships, which were held March 1-3 in Wheeling, W.V.
"We are healthy for the first time in weeks," Griffin told The Vista in the campus newspapers' tournament advance. "Everybody is looking forward to the meet and we have a good chance to win."
And win the Bronchos did, by an overwhelming margin.
UCO was in third place after Thursday's opening-day action before taking control of the massive 87-team tournament Friday. The Bronchos won seven of eight quarterfinal matches to start the second day, had the title clinched by the end of the night and coasted to their first-ever wrestling championship Saturday.
Central finished with 99.5 points, at the time the second-most points scored in NAIA tournament history. Adams State, a team the Bronchos edged 19-14 in a February dual, was second with 69 points.
Seven individuals earned All-America honors, with James and Johnny Powell capturing titles. James took the 134-pound crown with an easy 12-6 finals victory in finishing 23-2, while Powell capped a 20-1 senior season with a 10-5 gold medal win at 142.
Robinett cruised into the finals before falling to the No. 1 seed, with UCO also getting a fourth-place finish from 118 Kent Taylor, fifth-place showings from 158 John Finn and heavyweight Steve Foster and a sixth from 167 Ron Zeno. Finn and Foster both had big early-round upsets that keyed Central's surge to the championship.
"The kids rose to the occasion," Griffin said in the Vista's tournament wrap-up. "We wrestled tough competition all year and the kids knew what to expect. We had some kids win because they have big hearts and a lot of pride."
Griffin was named NAIA Coach of the Year after the tournament and was later selected Rookie Coach of the Year – covering all collegiate levels – by Amateur Wrestling News.
It was the start of a sensational run by the UCO wrestling program, with the Bronchos going on to win 14 national championships in the next 28 years – 12 of those coming with David James at the helm.
