Edward C. Gallagher (wrestling)
Encyclopedia
Edward Clark Gallagher was the Oklahoma A&M wrestling
coach from 1916-1940. With his knowledge of physical principles like leverage and stress along with anatomy
he all but invented the modern style of wrestling. He remains one of the most successful coaches in NCAA
athletics history. Overall in his wrestling coaching career at Oklahoma A&M his teams went 138-5-4, including 19 undefeated seasons and 11 NCAA titles.
Gallagher-Iba Arena
on campus at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK is named after him. Oklahoma A&M was later renamed Oklahoma State University.
In high school and college, he was a natural athlete, excelling in football and track. While a student at Oklahoma A&M, Gallagher won the 100-yard dash in a Southwest Conference meet in 9.8 seconds. In 1908, he ran for a 99 yard TD against Kansas State University
, which still stands as a school record for longest run from scrimmage.
Ironically, though, he was never involved in amateur wrestling during his high-school and collegiate days.
in electrical engineering
from Oklahoma A&M in 1909. Upon graduation, he stayed at the Stillwater school, where he served as track coach. In 1913, he left Oklahoma A&M for Baker College in Baldwin City, Kansas, where he coached all sports. However, in 1915, he returned to Oklahoma A&M as athletic director.
During the 1914-15 school year, Oklahoma A&M started its wrestling program, with A.M. Colville as coach. That first season, the team wrestled only one dual meet, and lost to the University of Texas. In the 1915-16 school year, Gallagher remained athletic director, but took on the added responsibility of being the wrestling coach. The team again had only one dual meet, and again lost to Texas. However, by the second year, Gallagher's wrestlers competed in three duals, winning two (against Emporia State and Texas) and tying with Arkansas. The team did not compete during World War I.
In 1928, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) held its first national college wrestling championship. At that first NCAAs—hosted by Iowa State—Gallagher's wrestlers won four of the seven titles. In the thirteen years of NCAA championships with Gallagher as coach, 22 individual Cowboy wrestlers won a total of 37 NCAA titles.
Four Cowboy Olympic wrestlers coached by Gallagher earned medals. Bobby Pearce and Jack VanBebber both won gold medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Frank Lewis won the gold, while teammate Ross Flood earned silver.
Gallagher openly shared what he learned with others. He and his teams often conducted wrestling demonstrations before or after dual meets. In 1939, he and his Cowboy wrestlers demonstrated holds in a three-page photo-article in Life magazine. He also wrote two instructional books, "Amateur Wrestling" and "Wrestling."
February 3, 1939 was "Gallagher Day" at Oklahoma A&M and Stillwater, the day the new 4-H Club and Student Activity Building was dedicated. This structure has since been renamed Gallagher-Iba Arena, in honor of Gallagher, and Henry Iba, long-time basketball coach at Oklahoma A&M.
The Cowboys' first season in the new arena was the last to be coached by Gallagher. He died on a vacation to Colorado on August 28, 1940. His funeral was held in the arena.
Collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the collegiate and university level in the United States. Collegiate wrestling emerged from the folk wrestling styles practised in the early history of the United States...
coach from 1916-1940. With his knowledge of physical principles like leverage and stress along with anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
he all but invented the modern style of wrestling. He remains one of the most successful coaches in NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
athletics history. Overall in his wrestling coaching career at Oklahoma A&M his teams went 138-5-4, including 19 undefeated seasons and 11 NCAA titles.
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Gallagher-Iba Arena, also known as "The Rowdiest Arena in the Country" and "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”, is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States...
on campus at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK is named after him. Oklahoma A&M was later renamed Oklahoma State University.
Early years
Ed Gallagher was born in Perth, Kansas in 1887.In high school and college, he was a natural athlete, excelling in football and track. While a student at Oklahoma A&M, Gallagher won the 100-yard dash in a Southwest Conference meet in 9.8 seconds. In 1908, he ran for a 99 yard TD against Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
, which still stands as a school record for longest run from scrimmage.
Ironically, though, he was never involved in amateur wrestling during his high-school and collegiate days.
Early Coaching Career
Gallagher earned a degreeAcademic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from Oklahoma A&M in 1909. Upon graduation, he stayed at the Stillwater school, where he served as track coach. In 1913, he left Oklahoma A&M for Baker College in Baldwin City, Kansas, where he coached all sports. However, in 1915, he returned to Oklahoma A&M as athletic director.
During the 1914-15 school year, Oklahoma A&M started its wrestling program, with A.M. Colville as coach. That first season, the team wrestled only one dual meet, and lost to the University of Texas. In the 1915-16 school year, Gallagher remained athletic director, but took on the added responsibility of being the wrestling coach. The team again had only one dual meet, and again lost to Texas. However, by the second year, Gallagher's wrestlers competed in three duals, winning two (against Emporia State and Texas) and tying with Arkansas. The team did not compete during World War I.
Post-War Coaching Success
In the years immediately after World War I, Gallagher's Oklahoma A&M wrestlers—by now known as the Cowboys—never had a losing season. In the eleven-year period from the 1919-20 through the 1930-31 seasons, the team had 70 straight wins. The streak was broken in the last dual meet of the 1930-31 season against cross-state rival, the University of Oklahoma Sooners. During the rest of the 1930s, the Cowboys lost only one other dual meet (at Southwestern Oklahoma State in the 1936-37 season) and had three ties.In 1928, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) held its first national college wrestling championship. At that first NCAAs—hosted by Iowa State—Gallagher's wrestlers won four of the seven titles. In the thirteen years of NCAA championships with Gallagher as coach, 22 individual Cowboy wrestlers won a total of 37 NCAA titles.
Olympic Success
From 1924 through 1936, fifteen of Ed Gallagher's wrestlers qualified for U.S. Olympic teams, along with Earl McCready competing for his native Canada at the 1928 Olympics, and George Chiga wrestling for Canada in 1936.Four Cowboy Olympic wrestlers coached by Gallagher earned medals. Bobby Pearce and Jack VanBebber both won gold medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Frank Lewis won the gold, while teammate Ross Flood earned silver.
Scientific Approach to Wrestling
Using his engineering knowledge, Gallagher studied leverage, and how it applied to wrestling. Gallagher selected over 400 wrestling holds, and expected each of his wrestlers to master about 200.Gallagher openly shared what he learned with others. He and his teams often conducted wrestling demonstrations before or after dual meets. In 1939, he and his Cowboy wrestlers demonstrated holds in a three-page photo-article in Life magazine. He also wrote two instructional books, "Amateur Wrestling" and "Wrestling."
Later life
In the 1930s, Gallagher was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. In 1938, he retired as director of physical education but remained on as wrestling coach.February 3, 1939 was "Gallagher Day" at Oklahoma A&M and Stillwater, the day the new 4-H Club and Student Activity Building was dedicated. This structure has since been renamed Gallagher-Iba Arena, in honor of Gallagher, and Henry Iba, long-time basketball coach at Oklahoma A&M.
The Cowboys' first season in the new arena was the last to be coached by Gallagher. He died on a vacation to Colorado on August 28, 1940. His funeral was held in the arena.
Modern-Day Honors
In 1976, Edward C. Gallagher was inducted into the inaugural class of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. For the 75th anniversary of the NCAA wrestling championships in 2005, Gallagher was named by wrestling fans as one of the three all-time great college wrestling coaches (along with Dan Gable, University of Iowa, and Harold Nichols, Iowa State University). Gallagher's name is also on the award given each year to an outstanding Oklahoma A&M wrestling alumnus.Coaching record
The following table shows Gallagher's wins as coach at Oklahoma A&M:| Year | Record (Wins-Loses-Ties) | Team Points | Individual Champions | All-Americans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 0-1-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1917 | 2-0-1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1918 | no team | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1919 | no team | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1920 | 3-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1921 | 3-2-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1922 | 5-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1923 | 5-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1924 | 4-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1925 | 5-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1926 | 6-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1927 | 9-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1928 | 6-0-0 | N/A | 4 | 5 |
| 1929 | 6-0-0 | 26.00 | 4 | 6 |
| 1930 | 8-0-0 | 27.00 | 3 | 6 |
| 1931 | 7-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1932 | 7-1-0 | 11.00 | 0 | 3 |
| 1933 | 8-0-0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1934 | 8-0-0 | 29.00 | 3 | 5 |
| 1935 | 8-0-0 | 36.00 | 3 | 5 |
| 1936 | 7-0-1 | 10.00 | 1 | 4 |
| 1937 | 6-1-1 | 31.00 | 4 | 7 |
| 1938 | 9-0-0 | 19.00 | 3 | 4 |
| 1939 | 6-0-0 | 33.00 | 3 | 7 |
| 1940 | 10-0-0 | 24.00 | 2 | 6 |
See also
- Oklahoma State University athleticsOklahoma State CowboysOklahoma State Cowboys are the athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University. Their mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Big 12 Conference's South Division. The university's current athletic director is Mike Holder...
- Gallagher-Iba ArenaGallagher-Iba ArenaGallagher-Iba Arena, also known as "The Rowdiest Arena in the Country" and "The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”, is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States...
- List of Oklahoma State University Olympians