Art Griffith

Art Griffith always felt a coach should lead his wrestlers to championships, and he lived up to that idea. In 30 years of coaching, he took his teams to 77 tournaments and never left the scene without at least one gold medal.

Griffith's coaching career spanned two great dynasties, first for 15 years at Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then for 13 seasons at Oklahoma State University. His records were fabulous.

His high school teams won 94 of 100 matches, 50 of them in a row, and 10 Oklahoma scholastic championships. A dozen times, his Braves were undefeated, and they won the only two national high school tournaments conducted.

Succeeding Edward C. Gallagher, he took the reins at Oklahoma State in 1941 and amassed eight NCAA championships in 13 attempts. His teams produced 78 victories against seven losses and four ties, and 10 times were undefeated. His wrestlers won 27 individual NCAA titles.

When he became the Cowboy coach, they already had won 27 consecutive dual meets. Under his leadership, that streak was extended to a record 76 before a loss in 1951. He was U.S. Olympic coachin 1948.

Art Griffith developed his own style of wrestling, with constant motion as the hallmark. "Every technique has its weakness," he said, "but you can't exploit that weakness by standing still. You must move, and you must force your opponent to move with you."

Another lasting contribution was Griffith's development of the point scoring system for wrestling bouts, which in early days were determined only by falls or time advantage.

Griffith served in many roles throughout his career, but the effect of his coaching greatness was most in evidence in 1941. Of the 16 National Collegiate finalists that year, all but two had been coached by Griffith either in high school or college.

For his lefendary exploits as a wrestling coach, Art Griffith is honored as a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Griffith died in 1976.