Hall of Fame
Bobby Douglas turned the fledgling West Liberty wrestling program into a launching pad for a legendary career that shattered records and racial barriers from his native Ohio Valley all the way to the international stage of the Olympic Games.
A member of Coach George Kovalick's inaugural Hilltopper wrestling team in 1962, Douglas burst onto the national scene by winning the NAIA national championship at 130 pounds. He was runner-up at the NCAA Division I Nationals the following year and won a Big Eight title in 1965 after transferring to Oklahoma State. He finished his collegiate career with a 72-2 record.
Douglas had already begun to make his mark at the national and international levels. He became the first Black wrestler to compete for the United States in the 1964 Olympics. He went on to become the first American wrestler – Black or white – to place first or second in the World Championships at the 1966 Worlds and was the first Black wrestler to captain the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. A five-time national champion, Douglas represented the United States on six World teams. Dating back to his high school days, he posted a career record of 303-17-7 on the mat.
The former Hilltopper shifted seamlessly into a coaching career, quickly establishing himself as one of the nation's premier teachers and technicians. One of only four collegiate coaches with more than 400 dual meet wins, Douglas won an NCAA team title at Arizona State and had five national runner-up finishes split between ASU and Iowa State. In 31 seasons at ASU, Iowa State and UC-Santa Barbara, Douglas coached 13 NCAA champions, 68 conference champions and 110 NCAA All-Americans. He was a 12-time Conference Coach of the Year and the 2000 NWCA National Coach of the Year and finished his collegiate coaching career with a 427-170-9 dual meet record.
Douglas wrestled or coached in six Olympic Games along with numerous World and Pan Am competitions. He was the first Black head coach of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1992, when he was honored as the USA Freestyle Wrestling Coach of the Year. He coached the U.S. team at the 1989, 1991, 2002 and 2003 World Championships and led the 1989 World Cup and 1991 Pan Am teams while serving on staff at various other international competitions.
Douglas became the first Black athlete to enter the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1987. He is also a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame, the NAIS Hall of Fame, the Arizona Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Iowa (Glen Brand) Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Lou Holtz Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame and the OVAC Hall of Fame.
