John Smith

Coaching Career
:: Oklahoma State's All-Time Winningest Coach with a 348-48-6 career record
:: Two-Time NWCA National Coach of the Year (1994, 2003)
:: Five-Time NCAA Champion Coach (1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
:: 15-Time Conference Champion Coach (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
:: Ten-Time Big 12 Coach of the Year (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013)
:: Two-Time Big Eight Coach of the Year (1994, 1996)
:: 26 NCAA Individual Champions Coached
:: 102 NCAA All-Americans Coached
:: 82 Conference Individual Champions Coached
:: Coach, USA Olympic Wrestling Team (2000, 2012)
:: Coach, USA World Championships Team (1998, 2009, 2010, 2011)
:: Coach, USA World Cup Team (1997)

Wrestling Career
:: Six-Time World Champion Wrestler (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992)
:: Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist (1988, 1992)
:: Two-Time Pan American Games Gold Medalist (1987, 1991)
:: Two-Time Goodwill Games Gold Medalist (1986, 1990)
:: Two-Time NCAA Wrestling Champion (1987, 1988)
:: Recipient, Amateur Athletic Foundation World Trophy (1992)
:: First Ever American To Earn FILA's Master of Technique Award (Best technical wrestler in the world, 1990)
:: First Wrestler To Win James E. Sullivan Award (Nation's top amateur athlete, 1990)
:: U.S. Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year (1990)
:: FILA Outstanding Wrestler of the Year (1991)
:: USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year (1989)
:: Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year (1988)
:: U.S. Olympic Committee Titan Award (2004)
:: Named one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All-Time (1996)
:: Member, FILA Hall of Fame (Inducted in 2003)
:: Distinguished Member, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (inducted in 1997)
:: Member, Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 1997)
:: Member, NCAA 75th Anniversary Team (2005)
:: NWCA College Wrestler of the Year (1987)

Records as a Wrestler
International Record: 100-5
Domestic Freestyle Record: 77-3
Collegiate Record: 154-7-2
High School Record: 105-5
John Smith is a name synonymous with wrestling success.

The Oklahoma State head coach won six consecutive world championships as a competitor from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and he owns five national championships as head coach of the Cowboys.

Smith accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma State in 1992 and the numbers and accomplishments since that time speak for themselves. He has led his alma mater to five NCAA team titles in 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and he has coached 26 NCAA individual champions and five Olympians. Under his watch, the Cowboys have brought 13 team conference tournament championships. two Big 12 regular season titles and 82 individual conference titles back to Stillwater. He has seen 102 of his student-athletes earn All-America recognition, an average of 4.6 All-America honorees per year.

He was recognized as the National Wrestling Coaches Association coach of the year in 1994 and 2003 and is a 12-time selection as his conference's coach of the year (1994 and 1996 in the Big Eight and 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2013 in the Big 12).

Most recently, Smith led his squad to its second Big 12 regular season title with a 6-0 conference dual record, making the Cowboys the only team to earn the title since its inception in 2012. The next day, eight Cowboys were crowned Big 12 champions en route to scoring a record-breaking 118.5 points to capture the conference tournament title.

Individual success continued for the Cowboys in the 2013 postseason as they took their entire starting lineup to DesMoines, Iowa, for the NCAA Championships. The squad produced seven All-Americans, making it the most for the program since 2005.

The Pokes added two national champions to the history books with senior Jordan Oliver picking up his second national title--this time at 149 pounds--and junior Chris Perry earning the crown at 174 pounds.

Smith's team finished the 2013 season as the No. 2 in the nation, falling just four points shy of the top team, Penn State in a thrilling NCAA tournament.

The 2013 squad finished the season 20-1, with its lone loss coming to Minnesota in the National Duals finals. The team spent two weeks in the top spot of the NWCA Poll.

A native of Del City, Okla., Smith owns a 348-48-6 career dual match record as a head coach (.869 winning pct.).

Smith led OSU to four consecutive NCAA team championships from 2003 through 2006.

The 2003 squad compiled a perfect 17-0 dual meet record, won the Big 12 team title, crowned six individual Big 12 champions and featured a pair of NCAA individual champions in Johnny Thompson and Jake Rosholt.

The 2004 squad sported a 17-2 dual meet record, won the Big 12 team title, crowned four individual Big 12 champions and was led by NCAA individual champion Chris Pendleton.

Under Smith's watch, Oklahoma State compiled a 21-0 dual meet record in 2005 and capped the season with one of the most dominant showings in the history of the NCAA Championships when an NCAA-record five separate Cowboys were crowned as NCAA champions. Zack Esposito won at 149 with Johny Hendricks taking the 165 championship, Pendleton repeating as an NCAA champion at 174, Jake Rosholt claiming the title at 197 and Steve Mocco taking the heavyweight championship. OSU wrestlers compiled a 38-9 record at the NCAA Championships that year and the Cowboys set school records for points, margin of victory and national champions. Oklahoma State scored 153 team points to top second-place Michigan by 70 points.

Smith and the Cowboys were 16-2 in dual meets en route to claiming their fourth consecutive NCAA team title in 2006, led by Hendricks and Rosholt, who both claimed their second consecutive NCAA individual championships.

The first of Smith's five NCAA team championships was won in 1994, when the Cowboys compiled a 13-1 dual meet record, won the Big 12 team championship, crowned four individual Big 12 champions and three NCAA individual champions in Alan Fried, Mark Branch and Smith's younger brother and the first-ever four-time NCAA champion, Pat Smith.

For all of the championships and success he continues to enjoy as a coach, it is his career as a wrestler that is the stuff of legend. Smith truly was the best wrestler in the world.


In brief, Smith compiled a 105-5 record as a high school wrestler at Del City HS in Del City, Okla., before moving on to Oklahoma State, where he put together a 154-7-2 collegiate record that included a pair of NCAA individual championships in 1987 and 1988. He was a three-time All-America selection at OSU in 1985, 1987 and 1988. On the international stage, Smith rolled to a 100-5 career record that included six world championships (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992), two Olympic gold medals (1988 and 1992), two Pan American Games gold medals (1987 and 1991) and two Goodwill Games gold medals (1986 and 1990).

To this day, Smith holds Oklahoma State school records for career victories (154), single-season victories (47 in 1988), career falls (38) and single-season falls (19 in 1988). A three-time Big Eight Conference individual champion in 1985, 1987 and 1988, Smith wrestled primarily at 134 during his collegiate career, where he strung together a 69-3 overall record. He also competed at 126, compiling a 19-2 overall mark. He won his one career match at 142.

After Smith's junior year at Oklahoma State, he won the first of his six world championships in Clermont-Ferrand France. Smith remains the only collegiate wrestler to win a world championship while he was still in school. Following his graduation in 1988, Smith qualified for the U.S. Olympic freestyle team and came away from the Seoul Olympics with the first of his two Olympic gold medals and the second of his six consecutive world titles.

Three more world championships ensued in 1989, 1990 and 1991 before Smith claimed the second of his Olympic gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona games to cement his legacy as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

His list of awards and honors received certainly befits someone who earned the distinction of being the best wrestler on the planet. Smith was honored as the first wrestler ever to be voted as the James E. Sullivan Award winner as America's outstanding amateur athlete when he won the award in 1990. He was the first American ever to be chosen Master of Technique and Wrestler of the Year by the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) when he received the honor in 1990. In 1992, he was presented with the Amateur Athletic Foundation's World Trophy. A 2003 inductee into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, a distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Smith was recognized as one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All Time at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Smith was the 1991 selection as FILA's Outstanding Wrestler of the Year after earning Man of the Year honors from Amateur Wrestling News in 1988, Athlete of the Year recognition from USA Wrestling in 1989 and Sportsman of the Year honors from the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1990.

In 2004, Smith was presented with the Titan Award by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the next year, he joined his brother Pat as one of 15 wrestlers named to the NCAA's 75th Anniversary Team.

The Smith family legacy is strong at Oklahoma State, as John's older brother Lee Roy was a three-time All-America in 1977, 1979 and 1980 and claimed the 1980 national championship. John was a three-time All-America in 1985, 1987 and 1988 with a pair of national

titles in 1987 and 1988 and younger brother Pat was a four-time All-America with four national championships in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994.

Smith has also successfully established a wrestling club that allows wrestlers from across the country to prepare and train for international competition. The Gator Wrestling Club sent three former Oklahoma State wrestlers to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games. Jamill Kelly won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, with Daniel Cormier finishing fourth and Eric Guerrero also representing the USA in Athens.

In 1995, Smith married the former Toni Donaldson. The couple has three sons - Joseph, Samuel and Levi and two daughters - Isabell and Cecilia.