Located less than ten minutes northeast of Johnson City in Elizabethton, Tennessee right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, is the small institution of Milligan University. Today they are NAIA, but I believe they were NCAA Division I at the time they fielded wrestling. Varsity wrestling began in the 1962-1963 season, brought to Milligan by Orval Crowder, who specifically sought out seniors whose high school careers did not end the way they wanted them to. His goal was to build up a team of wrestlers with chips on their shoulders who had something to prove. In his first year, the team was not provided wrestling mats or given the option of having a home dual. They borrowed tumbling mats from the P.E. department for practices.
Although Crowder never did upend Swede Umbach at Auburn for a team title at the Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (SEIWA) he did lead the Buffaloes to two SEIWA runner-up finishes.
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| Rex Jackson |
Jackson never lost a dual match during his time at Milligan & he won two SEIWA titles for the Buffaloes. Post college he went on to coach at Georgia.
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