WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Baughman staying involved By Gary Abbott
If you have a few hours, and would really like to talk some wrestling, agree to have lunch with Wayne Baughman. When it’s over, you will be surprised what you learn, and fascinated by the variety of stories you hear.
“All humility aside, I don’t think anybody knows more total wrestling than I do. I have been around it forever in all the dif- ferent styles,” he says. And he is accurate. For a guy who admits he does not real- ly “like” wrestling, never dreamed of being an Olympian, and did not imagine coach- ing for a living, Baughman ended up with one of the most diverse and successful careers within wrestling ever. There is a reason he has a reputation for toughness and independent thinking. On paper, it is easy to understand why he was elected into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. NCAA champion and three-time All-American at Oklahoma. Member of two NCAA champion teams. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler three times (1964, 1968, 1972). Multiple World Team member in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Winner of 26 different national titles. 1976 Olympic freestyle coach. U.S. Greco-Roman World Team coach. Head coach of the U.S. Air Force Academy for 27 years. And much more. When you spend some time with
Wayne, you understand that his resume only just scratches the surface. A potentially at-risk kid growing up in Oklahoma, Baughman enjoyed playing football and hoped to have a future in that sport. He tried wrestling a few times in phys ed class, and decided he really had no interest in it. He went out for basket- ball, because his football coach wanted his athletes to play a winter sport. After a spat with a teammate, when he retaliated after very physical battles during practice, Baughman got thrown off the basketball team.
“In the prophetic words of that basket- ball coach, he said that if I thought I was that tough, I should go out for wrestling,” said Baughman
When he asked to join wrestling, the coach did not want to let him on the team because of his attitude. The football coach decided to convince the wrestling coach to change his mind. He had some leverage because the football coach
32 USA Wrestler
for football. With a choice between even- tual Hall of Fame coaches Myron Roderick at OSU and Tommy Evans at OU, Baughman preferred Evans. “Tommy was then the assistant coach at OU and did some refereeing of our high school matches. Somebody told me that Tommy was an Olympic silver medal- ist and on two Olympic teams, but that didn’t impress me because I didn’t know that much about the Olympics. The fact that he was also a two-time NCAA cham- pion and two-time OW and only lost one match impressed me more than the Olympic stuff. I really liked Tommy and he’s the one who offered me the scholar- ship,” he said
Wayne Baughman
helped the wrestling coach get his job, and felt he was owed a favor. “The wrestling coach said he could not have a winning program with a bunch of bad attitude renegades like me. The foot- ball coach said I had football potential, and they both know wrestling will help my football more than basketball. He said he would consider it a personal favor to let me come out for wrestling. He said that if you let me come out, and I don’t do exactly what you ask him to do, come and get him and they will take me behind the school and beat the crap out of me. Back then, they could do that. That’s how I became a wrestler,” said Baughman. Baughman stuck with wrestling, enjoyed the individual challenge of the sport, and became successful. He ended up third in the Oklahoma state champi- onships by his senior year.
“My high school coach was a real good fundamental coach. He taught very basic things, nothing really impressive or flashy. I was his first wrestler to go to college on a wrestling scholarship, along with our heavyweight who went to Oklahoma State, while I went to Oklahoma,” said Baughman.
Baughman was recruited to both Oklahoma State and Oklahoma for wrestling, both with half scholarships. Actually, his only full scholarship offer came from Baylor football, but Baughman wanted to keep wrestling and also try out
When Baughman went to OU, he real- ized that he made the right choice. “Tommy Evans was the perfect coach for me. He was very conditioning-orient- ed. The best thing he did for me is that he was like Gable was, he could whip everybody in the room. He would work with me physically on the mat. He would stay as long after practice as I wanted and we’d stay until everybody else was gone. My experience level moved way, way up just in that one year. By the end of my freshman year, I could have proba- bly made the varsity,” said Baughman. In his four years at OU, Baughman won an NCAA title and placed second twice. There was no freshman eligibility then so he competed just three seasons. The Sooner team won two NCAA team titles and placed second twice during his time, with a room full of national champions and All-Americans. Baughman was sur- prised that he was NCAA runner-up as a sophomore at 177 pounds, when he lost to talented Bob Johnson of Oklahoma State in the finals, 9-5.
“I wound up second in the NCAAs, when if somebody asked me what my goals were, I would have said to earn a varsity letter. To have placed as high as second in the NCAAs was totally amazing to me, and I couldn’t figure out how I pulled it off,” he said. As a junior, Baughman won Big Eights at 191 pounds, and chose to stay up for the nationals, to the strong objections of his coaches, especially Port Robertson, who felt he would do better dropping down to 177. Baughman had lost three times down at 177, but was unbeaten at
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