Bobby Douglas - As A Competitor

As A Competitor

As a competitor, Douglas captured five national championships and a pair of U.S. Olympic Trials titles. He had a fourth-place featherweight finish at the 1964 Tokyo Games and he captained the U.S. Olympic freestyle team at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Douglas captured silver and bronze medals, as well as a fourth-place showing in the World Championships. He was named the nation’s outstanding wrestler in 1970, the year he retired. He accumulated a career record of 303-17-7 (.953) from his high school days through his World Championship competition.

Born in poverty, Douglas rose to the top of the wrestling world. Though Douglas is often credited with being the first black Ohio high school state titlist, when he captured the 112-pound weight class crown at Bridgeport High School, the first black Ohio wrestler to which that honor rightly belongs was actually a powerful and quick 145-pound senior from John Adams named Ludie Graddy, who beat Euclid's Bill Murphy, 4-3, in the state championship match in 1958.

After transferring to Oklahoma State, Douglas won the Big Eight Conference 147-pound crown. The Cowboys never lost a dual meet with Douglas in the lineup and captured a pair of conference championships and the 1964 NCAA team title.

In 1987, Douglas was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame following his enshrinement into the NAIA Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1985. Douglas is also a member of the Ohio Hall of Fame and in 1999 was inducted into the Arizona State Hall of Fame. He is a proud supporter of the Jason Foundation, a nationally recognized leader in youth suicide awareness and prevention.

Douglas has written several books on wrestling technique: Takedown I, Takedown II, Pinning and Olympic Technique, Take It To The Mat, Wrestling Skills and Drills, and The Last Takedown. He is one of a handful of gold certified U.S. coaches.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State in 1967 and his master’s degree from ASU in 1981, where he was admitted to the doctoral program. Douglas and his wife, Jackie, have one son, Bobby Douglas Jr., and reside in Ames.