InterMat Rewind: Jim Gregson

Oklahoma State is a wrestling program with a long, rich history of excellence in terms of overall team performance, and the accomplishments of individual coaches and wrestlers.

Jim Gregson

Yet there's a Cowboy wrestler of the 1940s and 50s that many diehard fans who bleed orange and black may not know. This wrestler was a two-time NCAA All-American, winning the 175-pound title at the 1949 NCAAs … then, was a finalist at 191 at the 1956 NCAAs. As a senior, he was co-captain of the team, sharing that honor with three-time NCAA champ and legendary Oklahoma State head coach, Myron Roderick. And, perhaps most incredible, he is the only college wrestler to have had more than one college match with Oklahoma's Dan Hodge and, not only avoided being pinned, but actually scored on the Sooner superstar.

The Oklahoma State wrestler with these impressive credentials: Jim Gregson.

A state champ for the Maroons …

James Gregson grew up in the Oklahoma wrestling hotbed of Blackwell, located just south of the Kansas border, between Oklahoma City and Wichita. Blackwell has turned out more than its fair share of Oklahoma high school wrestling state champs who then became college mat stars. Among the Blackwell Maroons who earned state titles and then became NCAA champs for Oklahoma State: Charles Hetrick (1949 NCAA champ)… Ted Ellis (1959 national champ) … and Jack Brisco (1965 titlewinner).

Jim Gregson also belongs that that elite group. He won the 165-pound Oklahoma high school wrestling title in 1946, helping to propel Blackwell to yet another team title as well.

… joins the legacy of the Orange and Black

After graduating from Blackwell High School in 1946, Gregson headed approximately 50 miles southeast to Stillwater, to enroll at what was then called Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College (Oklahoma A&M), since renamed Oklahoma State University.

Art Griffith was Jim Gregson's college wrestling coach (Photo/1947 Redskin)

By the mid-1940s, the Cowboys had established themselves as THE college wrestling program in the U.S., first under revered coach Ed Gallagher, then, upon Gallagher's passing in 1940, Art Griffith took the helm. Under the leadership of Gallagher and Griffith, the Orange and Black had earned fourteen national team titles, and won an incredible 47 individual titles between 1928 (the first NCAAs) through 1946.

Throughout his career at Oklahoma State, Jim Gregson's coach was Art Griffith. A native of Oklahoma, Griffith wrestled for Gallagher at Oklahoma State in the 1920s. After graduation, Griffith became coach at Central High School in Tulsa. In his fifteen seasons as the Braves coach, Griffith built a powerful dynasty; his teams won 94 of 100 matches (including a 50-meet win streak), and claimed ten Oklahoma state team titles.

Art Griffith's success fostered as a high school coach continued when he made the move to Oklahoma State in the fall of 1940. In the Cowboys' first season under Griffith, the team continued Gallagher's winning legacy, with a 6-0 dual-meet record, four individual NCAA champs, and the NCAA team title. Griffith's second season -- 1941-42 -- was almost a carbon copy of the first: 5-0 record, four individual champs, another team title. Wrestling was suspended at Oklahoma State from 1942-1945 because of World War II; when it resumed in early 1946, the Cowboys picked up where they had left off, winning their two dual meets (in an abbreviated schedule), crowning two champs at the 1946 NCAAs, and winning yet another team championship.

Freshman Gregson makes his presence known

Jim Gregson found himself to be an important player in the continued success of the Oklahoma State wrestling program as a freshman during the 1946-47 school year.

Through much of the history of collegiate wrestling from the late 1920s through much of the 1960s, freshmen were not allowed to wrestle in varsity competition. However, for a brief period immediately after World War II, the NCAA relaxed these restrictions, and first-year student-athletes were able to compete as starters on the varsity team. Jim Gregson was one of a number of athletes who benefited from this temporary rule-change.

According to his individual record posted at the Web site WrestlingStats.com, Jim Gregson wrestled his first varsity match as a freshman on February 7, 1947 at home at Gallagher Hall. In the 175-pound match, Gregson faced off against Charles Lyons of Kansas State … getting a 12-6 victory. In the rest of February, Gregson then wrestled three additional matches -- one at heavyweight, the rest at 175 -- winning all of them … two by falls.

Jim Gregson's opponent in the 1949 NCAA finals was Joe Scarpello, a three-time Big Ten champ at the time who won his fourth conference title in 1950, the first University of Iowa wrestler to do this (Photo/1947 Hawkeye Yearbook)

Jim Gregson wrestled at 175 for Oklahoma State at the 1947 NCAAs at the University of Illinois. How did the freshman from Blackwell earn a trip to the Nationals, and not the defending champ at 175, teammate George Dorsch? According to The Cornellian, the student newspaper at Cornell College (Iowa), Gregson had defeated Dorsch in a wrestle-off before the national championships. At the 1947 NCAAs, Gregson wrestled the Fighting Illini's guy at 175, Norman Anthonisen, and lost, 5-3. It was Gregson's first and last match at the Nationals.

Jim Gregson's sophomore season was even shorter. He wrestled in just two dual meets in January 1948, winning both matches … but did not compete at the 1948 NCAAs. Later that summer, Gregson wrestled at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and defeated Joe Scarpello of the University of Iowa on a split decision … but lost to Glen Brand of Iowa State, who went on to win the gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics.

For Jim Gregson, it was a matter of "wait until next year …"

That championship season

As a junior, Jim Gregson wrestled in just three dual meets in February and March 1949, winning all three matches. (Earlier-season bouts were wrestled by teammates Rod Baker and Melbourne Flesner.) Despite that limited number of matches, Gregson was Oklahoma State's 175-pounder at the 1949 NCAAs, held at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The event was historic for two reasons: At the time, it was the most westerly site for the national championships… and the first time an African-American -- Harold Henson of San Diego State -- wrestled at any NCAA championship.

There were eighteen men in the 175-pound bracket. Gregson was seeded second, behind Iowa's Joe Scarpello. (Also wrestling 175 in 1949: Bob Siddens of Iowa State Teachers College, who went on to be an NCAA referee and long-time coach at Waterloo West High in Iowa, where, among others, he coached Dan Gable in the mid 1960s.)

In his opening-round match, Jim Gregson shut out 1947 NCAA All-American Fred Dexter of Cornell of Iowa, 3-0. In his second bout, Gregson got a decisive 9-3 victory over William Vohaska of the University of Illinois. The quarterfinals round saw Gregson defeat G.J. Roush of Amherst, 4-2 … while, in the semifinals, the second-seeded Cowboy shut out third-seeded Herb Reese of the University of Nebraska, 7-0, to find himself in the finals.

The 175-pound title match at the 1949 NCAAs was a battle of the two top seeds: No. 1 Joe Scarpello vs. No. 2 Gregson. A native of Omaha, Scarpello brought an impressive wrestling resume to the '49 nationals: three Nebraska high school state titles, three Big Ten crowns, and the 175 championship at the 1947 NCAAs. However, in the NCAA finals at Fort Collins, Gregson scored a second-period takedown that ultimately made the difference, earning a 3-1 decision over Scarpello to win the national title.

Jim Gregson wasn't the only Cowboy champ crowned at the 1949 NCAAs; teammate Charles Hetrick won the 128-pound title, and was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. A total of seven Oklahoma State wrestlers (out of eight weight classes) earned All-American honors. These outstanding individual performances put the Cowboys in first place in the team standings.

Away for six years, then back senior season

Jim Gregson (Photo/1956 Redskin)

After winning the national title his junior year, Jim Gregson left Oklahoma State to serve in the military. He returned to the Stillwater campus in the fall of 1955 to complete his college education, and wrestle one last year for the Cowboys.

Much had changed in the intervening six seasons. The 175-pound weight class had become 177. Gregson found a whole new set of teammates … and opponents. However, some things remained reliably the same. Art Griffith was still head coach at Oklahoma State, and the Cowboys were still a force to be reckoned with in college wrestling, having compiled a 5-0-2 dual meet record the year before he returned, and winning the 1955 NCAA team title with two individual champs.

As a senior, Jim Gregson was named co-captain of the 1955-56 Cowboys, along with fellow senior Myron Roderick, who had won two NCAA titles the previous two seasons (137 pounds in 1954; 130 in 1955).

Despite the long layoff, Gregson was back in championship form. In dual-meet competition, Gregson scored five victories and suffered only two defeats … both of those losses to cross-state rival, Dan Hodge of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Taking on "Homicide" Hodge -- twice

Over the years, Daniel Allen Hodge has earned almost mythic status in the world of collegiate wrestling that goes beyond his three NCAA titles, two NCAA Outstanding Wrestler awards, and a silver medal earned at the 1956 Olympics. He's the only amateur wrestler to ever be featured as an amateur wrestler on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The annual Hodge Trophy is synonymous with excellence in college wrestling. Even in his seventies, Hodge still possesses incredible grip strength that can turn apples into applesauce, pliers into scrap.

Jim Gregson wrestled Dan Hodge twice in 1956 … with Hodge winning both meetings (Photo/Amateur Wrestling News)

In the winter of 1956, Dan Hodge was a junior, coming off a perfect first season for the Sooners, winning the 1955 Big Seven and NCAA titles, having pinned ten of his sixteen opponents that sophomore season. Even back then, Hodge had already earned nicknames like "Dangerous Dan" and "Homicide."

Dan Hodge was Jim Gregson's first opponent that season.

The two men met on the mat for the first time at the first of two Bedlam Series duals that year, January 12, 1956 at Gallagher Hall at Oklahoma State. Neither man was a kid; Hodge was 23 (having served in the Navy after high school), while Gregson would have been 27. As the Oklahoma State student newpaper, The Daily O'Collegian, pointed out in its preview to the bout: "Jim Gregson, A&M's returning champion at 177 in 1949, couldn't have picked a more rigorous comeback test. His opponent, Dan Hodge, was on the 1952 Olympic team and was NCAA champion at 177."

The next day, the "O'Colly" reported that the largest crowd ever to see a collegiate wrestling match at the time -- 8,200 fans, according to the 2008-09 Oklahoma State wrestling media guide -- packed Gallagher Hall to see the Cowboys vs. Sooners. One of the marquee match-ups was Gregson vs. Hodge. Yes, the Sooner superstar walked away the winner, but Gregson did something no other wrestler had done against Hodge in his three-year varsity career: He scored a point -– an escape -- against Hodge! The final score: 5-1 Hodge. At the end of the evening, the final team score was knotted 12-12.

A month later, it was the 1956 Bedlam Series, Part 2. Jim Gregson and the Oklahoma State Cowboys traveled south to Norman to take on the Sooners. A crowd of 5,500 fans filled the OU Fieldhouse on February 10, 1956. In its follow-up report, The Daily O'Collegian said, "The Sooners' superb 177-pound national champion, Dan Hodge, once again decisioned easily A&M's Jim Gregson." This time, "Dangerous Dan" held his cross-state rival scoreless, 6-0. As with the January dual, the team score ended in a 12-12 tie.

There's no shame in losing to Dan Hodge; after all, he won every one of his 36 college matches -- including an incredible 78% by pin. Among the top wrestlers Hodge defeated in college: 1953 and '54 NCAA champ Ned Blass of Oklahoma State … 1958 NCAA champ Gary Kurdelmeier of Iowa … and Pacific Coast Conference champ John Dustin of Oregon State. However, among wrestlers who went up against Hodge more than once, Jim Gregson is the only one who was not pinned by "Dangerous Dan"!

At home at the 1956 NCAAs

The 1956 NCAAs were held in familiar territory – Gallagher Hall at Oklahoma State. After competing all season at 177 pounds, Jim Gregson moved up to 191 -- a weight class normally not wrestled during the regular season. There were fifteen wrestlers in the bracket -- some former 177s, some who usually wrestled heavyweight. Gregson was seeded second; the top seed was Ken Leuer of the University of Iowa.

Ken Maidlow of Michigan State was Jim Gregson's opponent in the opening round; the Cowboy defeated the Spartan, 10-7. In the next match, Gregson shut out Lock Haven's Elwood Reese, 6-0. In the semifinals, Gregson went up against the University of Pittsburgh's Ron Schirf … and got a 3-1 decision over the sixth-seeded Panther, making it to the finals for the second time in his college career.

Jim Gregor lost to Ken Leuer in the 1956 NCAA finals (Photo/1956 Hawkeye Yearbook)

There were some eerie similarities between Jim Gregson's finals match at the 1949 NCAAs, and the '56 nationals. In both title bouts, he was the second-seeded wrestler, going up against the top seed … both opponents were newly crowned Big Ten champs … and, in both cases, his opponents were from the University of Iowa. Wrestling Gregson for the 191-pound title: Ken Leuer, Iowa senior who, a couple weeks earlier, had won the 191 crown at the Big Ten conference championships. Like Gregson, Leuer -- a two-time state champ from Wayzata, Minnesota -- also had NCAA finals experience. In 1955, he was runner-up at 191, losing to Peter Steele Blair of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Sadly, for Jim Gregson, the outcome of his 1956 NCAA finals match wasn't the same as back in 1949. The veteran Cowboy wrestler lost to Ken Leuer, 5-3. Despite the loss -- and having only one individual champ, Myron Roderick at 130 -- Oklahoma State won its nineteenth team title, this time in the friendly confines of Gallagher Hall.

Jim Gregson completed his college wrestling career with a 21-4-0 overall record (13-2-0 in dual meets), with two pins. He was a two-time All-American who was a two-time NCAA finalist … winning the 175-pound title at the 1949 NCAAs. And he managed to go the full nine minutes in two separate matches with prodigious pinner Dan Hodge -- and, in fact, is the only wrestler to have scored on the Sooner in a regulation match. By all measures, Jim Gregson was the very embodiment of the Cowboy way.

For photos of Jim Gregson and his opponents, check out this photo album at the Vintage Amateur Wrestling Yahoo group HERE.

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InterMat Rewind: Jim Gregson

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