William Smith (wrestler)

William T. Smith (September 17, 1928 – March 20, 2018)[1] was an American wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling.

William Smith
Personal information
Born(1928-09-17)September 17, 1928
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
DiedMarch 20, 2018(2018-03-20) (aged 89)
Humboldt, Iowa, U.S.
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
1952 Helsinki Welterweight

Smith was born in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Thomas Jefferson Senior High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.[2] He then enrolled at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), Smith won back-to-back NCAA wrestling titles at 165 pounds in 1949 and 1950. As a team, Iowa State Teachers College finished as NCAA Runners-Up in 1949 and NCAA Champions in 1950. He also won three Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national titles.[3]

William Smith died on March 20, 2018. Intermat Wrestling website posted an article about Bill citing all of his accomplishments.[4]

Olympics

Smith competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki where he received a gold medal in Freestyle wrestling, the welterweight class.[5]

References
  1. http://www.nonpareilonline.com/sports/olympic-champion-t-j-grad-bill-smith-dies-at/article_e878f11e-2cb4-11e8-90e8-3f29c05e4a9a.html
  2. "Notable Oregonians". All-Oregon. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  3. "Bill Smith, University of Northern Iowa". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
  4. Palmer, Mark (March 21, 2018). "Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champ Bill Smith passes". InterMat Wrestle.
  5. "1952 Summer Olympics – Helsinki, Finland – Wrestling" Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 13 September 2008)


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.