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trying to make history for the first time. There was a lot of pressure over the years. There wasn’t a week that went by when people didn’t ask me about being a four-timer. Then the media got involved. John Smith did a great job coaching me, making me prepared and not distracted by outside things,” said Pat. In his senior year, the 1994 NCAA Championships were held at North Carolina. Pat worked his way through the tournament, then defeated talented Sean Bormet of Michigan in the finals. The photo of Pat Smith getting his arm raised there went all across the nation. “I did what I had to do to win. Was it my best match ever? No. There was a lot of pressure up there on that stage,” he said. “It was a feeling of just relief. I had focused on this for so long and trained so long. It was five years that I trained for that. There was joy and satisfaction that I battled through it. I trained mentally and physically to accomplish an unbelievable feat,” he said.
Pat jumped right into freestyle. He competed three years on the national level, making it all the way to the 1996 Olympic Trials finals, where he lost to long-time friend and training partner Kenny Monday, a three-time Olympian. “I believe I was a better folkstyle wrestler than freestyle. I had some great wrestlers in my weight, Olympic champi- ons Dave Schultz and Kenny Monday. I didn’t reach my goal from first grade of being Olympic champion. I was able to walk away knowing I gave it all I had. You can be satisfied with that,” he said. Coaching became Pat’s next passion, and he spent 12 years on the coaching staff at Oklahoma State. He helped coach
a number of NCAA champion teams and individuals during his tenure with the Cowboys, working with his older brother John and other great coaches to add to Oklahoma State’s great legacy. His next coaching opportunity came working with youth and high school wrestlers in Arkansas. One thing was clear; Pat Smith found satisfaction in helping others. “My biggest thrill is building kids’ confi- dence. It is a challenge to get them to believe in themselves, whether they are eight years old or 22 years old. Coaching is a competition. I challenge myself every day to help them. I love everything about coaching. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life,” he said. Greg Hatcher, a wrestling enthusiast who lived in Arkansas, had a dream about starting the sport in the state. He called Pat Smith and invited him to come out there and help him to start the sport from scratch.
“He needed somebody to start a club in Little Rock. We would teach the kids to wrestle at the club, and they would start up the sport in the schools. After listening to him, this was something I could do out- side the box, to go to a new state and start wrestling from the ground up. It excited me as a challenge,” he said. In five years, Hatcher, Smith and others have developed the sport. In 2009, Arkansas made wrestling an official high school sport. There are now almost 60 high school teams in Arkansas. There have been three college programs started in Arkansas. The last three years, Pat has been coaching the Arkansas team at the Cadet and Junior Nationals. The rapid growth and improvement in wrestling there is a source of pride for Pat Smith. “Every year it gets bigger. My first year,
I had six kids in my club. Now, I have over 80 in the club. My first year, there were two youth clubs in the state. This year, they had 25 youth clubs at the state meet. We had over 1,000 high school wrestlers this season. Each year, it grows in leaps and bounds. It is really taking off in Arkansas,” he said.
Pat Smith was there to watch Kyle Dake win all four of his NCAA titles in person. As the first four-timer, he has a unique perspective on Dake’s achieve- ment.
“Nothing impresses me more about Kyle than the fact he is having fun. He enjoys it and is relaxed. He has all the skills and has mental toughness, plus he is relaxed. That is a hard man to beat,” said Pat Smith.
The young kids that he coaches are inspired by four-timers Kyle Dake, Cael Sanderson and Pat Smith. “Tonight, one of my kids at practice told me he knew what he wanted to do in col- lege. He wanted to go undefeated like Cael Sanderson and win in four different weight classes like Kyle Dake. He asked what I thought. I told him, ‘if you work hard enough, you can do it. Go for it.’ His face beamed. Guys like Cael and Kyle give so much hope to these kids. They look up to them in a positive way.” Smith believes even more will reach the goal in the near future.
“I always felt there would be more to come and at a faster pace. It was like the four-minute mile. Once the barrier was broken down, it became a reality to the young kids. They know they can do it because it has been done.
“It is a great boost of confidence. In the next 20 years, we will see more and more,” he said.
33 USA Wrestler
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