Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Kansas State


I'm not exactly sure when Kansas State started wrestling or when exactly they dropped. What I do know is that with exception to a few years, most of which were because of World War II, the wildcats sent at least one wrestler to the NCAA championships from 1930 to 1975.

The best of the Division I wrestling programs in the state of Kansas, Kansas State had 79 NCAA participants at the national tournament compared to Kansas with a total of six and Wichita State with zero.  The Wildcats also has twenty BIG 12 individual champions.

When researching the history of Kansas State wrestling I was unable to recover any photographs.  Names and information were rather scarce but at least existent.

One would have to conclude that among the best in Wildcat history, four time NCAA tournament participant Bob Mancuso would have to be among the ranks.  Although he never did win a BIG 12 title, he finished as the runner-up twice and in third place twice.   Post his collegiate career he went on to coach at Bellevue East High School where he lead the Cheiftains to their first team state championship. He later coached at the University of Nebraska.

Other names would be John Richardson who finished in second wrestling at 145 lbs in 1931, Earnest Jessup a state champion for Wichita East High School who finished in second in 1937 wrestling at 155 lbs and another 155 lbs'er Leland Porter who also finished second in 1941.
Joe Blanchard 
Perhaps the most famous wrestler to ever come out of Kansas State is Joe Blanchard who won a BIG 12 title for the wildcats in 1950.  He would later go onto fame in professional wrestling as both a worker and a promoter.  His son Tully, had success in both WWE & NWA as a tag team champion.  His granddaughter Tessa currently works for TNA Pro Wrestling.

2 comments:

  1. In 1963 Alvin Bird took 3rd at Big 8's beating Hassman of Iowa State for that place. Bird would not compete at Nationals due to travel conflicting with his student teaching. Bird is now a doctor in Winfield, KS. Great guy. Gordan Hassman wound up the 6th seed and took 3rd at 167 at NCAA's that year. - Swayz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Things were certainly different back in those days, that's for sure. The NCAA tournament wasn't seen as quite the pinnacle that it is today. I once interviewed a man from the University of Michigan who won the BIG 10's. He didn't attend the NCAA tournament because of an internship with the company he ended up working for. They gave him an ultimatum. Wrestle or job. He chose job. Must have been the right decision, he retired from it 43 years later.

      Delete