Smith passed away in late March at age 89.
The MVC Hall of Fame honor is just the latest for Smith, who was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1978. Prior to that, Smith was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame on 1972, and the Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1977.
Bill Smith (Photo/NWHOF)Born in Portland, Oregon in September 1928, William Thomas Smith launched his wrestling career at Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa where he placed twice at the Iowa state wrestling championships, once as runner-up and another year in third place. He was recruited by Bill McCuskey, head wrestling coach at UNI (then called Iowa State Teachers College). While at the Cedar Falls, Iowa school, Smith won back-to-back NCAA Division I championships at 165 pounds in 1949 and 1950, compiling a near-perfect 52-0-1 collegiate career record.
Smith made a name for himself in freestyle as well, as a three-time National AAU Freestyle champion at 165 pounds from 1949-51. The following year, Smith won the gold medal in freestyle at 160.5 pounds at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Four years later, Smith won the U.S. Olympic trials at 174 pounds -- pinning Oklahoma Sooner superstar Dan Hodge in the finals -- but later was declared ineligible for the Games because he already had worked as a coach, breaking the rules defining "amateur athletics" of that era.
Smith's coaching career was also incredibly varied. He served as a high school coach in Illinois, Michigan and California ... at the college level in Nebraska and California ... and as a long-time coach and athletic director at the Olympic Club of San Francisco.
In addition to Bill Smith, other athletes to welcomed into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame include Kristi Cirone (Illinois State), Dolph Pulliam (Drake), Kent Williams (Southern Illinois), John McNichols (Indiana State) and Joe Stowell (Bradley).
The MVC Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be Friday, March 8, 2019 at Stifel Theatre in St. Louis. Tickets are available through the MVC office at (314) 444-4300.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now