Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Arkansas State

Varsity high school wrestling wouldn't appear in the state for another 61 years.  Another Division I program wouldn't show up for another 71 years.  Of all the former collegiate wrestling programs that I have studied, Arkansas State is perhaps the most mysterious.

In some ways I suppose maybe it isn't all that puzzling.  A man we would later know to be one of the greatest collegiate wrestling coaches of all time, Dr Harold Nichols, was at the school.  Ironically enough as one of the basketball coaches.  He began the Red Wolves wrestling program in the 1948-1949 season and would continue it through the 1952-1953 season when he left for Iowa State.

I personally consider this to be one of the most monumental decisions ever made in collegiate wrestling.  Maybe the most.  Think about the landscape of college wrestling had Nichols stayed at Arkansas State.  Would the legendary Cyclone teams that consisted of Dan Gable, Ben Peterson, Chris Taylor, ect have still existed?  Would Gable have still wrestled for the Cyclones?  Would he have gone on to the heights of success as a coach at the University of Iowa? Would this still have lead to a multitude of his wrestlers going on successful coaching careers themselves?

I mean honestly...What would wrestling in the state of Iowa look like had Nichols never came to Iowa State?

And, on the same token, what would wrestling look like had he stayed at Arkansas State?  Would high school wrestling have came to the natural state sooner?  Would wrestling have eventually gotten more popular in the south?  Could with less resources and less ability to recruit Nichols have ever built up Red Wolves wrestling to a notable status?   These questions fascinate me.

The other questions that fascinate me are who made up the Red Wolves wrestling team?  Who were these guys? Where did they come from?  They obviously weren't from Arkansas.  In all of my research I've only been able to find information about one of their wrestlers.

Al Crancer

A native of Kirkwood, Missouri,  Crancer participated in the NCAA tournament competing for the Red Wolves.  Post college he went into the United States Army and later became a member of the C.I.A.