Defending The Title: 1948: Those Who Did and Those Who Didn't Defend The Title

 Bill Koll won his third and final title for Northern Iowa as Dick Hutton of Oklahoma State won his second of what would eventually be three titles. 

1948 Champion 114
Arnold Plaza of Purdue 

Army veteran, Arnold Plaza, a four time BIG 10 champion won the title here as a sophomore.  He'd repeat again as a junior in 1949, taking runner-up honors his senior season of 1950. 

1948 Champion 125
George Lewis of Waynesburg 

Cornell College wasn't the only small school to produce NCAA champions in the 40's.  A three time state champion for Farrell High School, Lewis won the NCAA title for Yellow Jackets before taking time off from school and wrestling to serve in the military.  He came back for a final season in 1952 where he finished fourth in the nation.   Post college he coached at Hickory high school where he lead his team to over 150 duel victories. 

1948 Champion 136
Dick Dickenson of Michigan State 

Dickenson was a junior the year he won the NCAA title for the Spartans.  He'd make the finals again in 1949, taking runner-up honors. 

1948 Champion 160
Jack St Clair of Oklahoma State 

A standout wrestler and football player for Perry High School, Jack St Clair had to make the choice of heading to Stillwater to wrestle or to Norman to play football. Lucky for us wrestling fans, he chose the prior.  Having his collegiate career interrupted by World War II, he turned to Oklahoma State taking NCAA runner-up honors for the Cowboys as a sophomore in 1946.  He then capped off his time as a Cowboy with an NCAA championship.  Later in life St Clair be came a Game Warden, being a rather successful business man running his own plumbing business and later helping his daughter run a liquor store. 

1948 Champion 174
Glen Brand of Iowa State 

Second place is the best Brand would ever do at the Iowa High School State championships competing for Clarion high School.  A World War II Veteran, Brand would make the 1947 NCAA finals, settling for another silver medal.  In 1948, he would not be denied.  Pinning his way through the tournament, Brand won an NCAA title and then followed it up by winning a gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games. 

1948 Champion 191 
Vern Gagne of Minnesota 

The say in life that if you pay attention, history often repeats itself.  At the current moment two of the best wrestlers in the NCAA are 197 lbs'er A.J. Ferrari of Oklahoma State & HWT Gable Steveson of Minnesota.  Many are excited to see what will happen between the two phenomenal talents if Ferarri moves up to HWT and the two do battle.  Call it coincidence, call it irony, call it whatever you want, nearly 74 years ago at nearly identical weights of 191 & HWT, at the exact same schools of Oklahoma State and Minnesota, the same thing was happening. 

Like Steveson, Oklahoma State's Dick Hutton looked to be unstoppable.  When he won the NCAA title as a freshman in 1947, his closest match was with sophomore Vern Gagne who took him to a 2-1 decision. In 1948, Gagne would move down to 191 winning the title as Hutton won the title at UNL.  In 1949, Gagne would move back up to the UNL class to challenge Hutton again.  Handing Hutton the only defeat of his entire collegiate career, Gagne upended the legendary Cowboy for the NCAA title, keeping him from becoming our first four time champion. 

Also a varsity starter on the Gopher football team, Gagne was drafted by the Chicago Bears but decided that since at the time there wasn't much money in professional football that he would be better off for a career in professional wrestling.  While a successful wrestler, it was as a promoter where he found his real fame and real success.  He started and ran the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1959, until the company folded in 1991. Over those 32 years the AWA produced some of the most well known and popular talent in the world of All Star entertainment including the likes of Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura.