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35-491: Leroy Michael McGuirk (December 13, 1910 – September 9, 1988) was an American amateur and professional wrestler , and wrestling promoter . He was involved in professional wrestling for more than fifty years. As one of the longest surviving members of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), he was affiliated with the promotion from 1949 to 1982, where he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion . He

70-450: A championship reign of 421 days, Hutton dropped the belt to Pat O'Connor . Hutton never really had much other success in professional wrestling. He was criticised by some people for having a lack of charisma with poor drawing ability. However, many other wrestlers praised his wrestling ability. Hutton was forced into retirement because of heart trouble and other injuries. Hutton was married to Katherine. He died on November 24, 2003, at

105-454: A few, were perceived as the non-essential territories. McGuirk had many people who worked for him as matchmaker: Leo Voss, Sam Menacker, Rip Tyler, Wayne Martin, and George Scott . Of all those people, Cowboy Bill Watts played a big part in McGuirk's promotion, both positively and negatively. His first real connection to McGuirk was in 1968, when McGuirk submitted the only vote in favor of passing

140-629: Is mandatory to protect the ears from cauliflower ear and other injuries. Headgear is made from molded plastic polymer or vinyl coated energy absorbing foam over a rigid hard liner and strapped to the head tightly. In the international styles headgear is optional. Wrestling is conducted on a padded mat that must have excellent shock absorption, tear resistance, and compression qualities. Most mats are made of PVC rubber nitrile foam. Recent advances in technology have brought about new mats made using closed cell, cross-linked polyethylene foam covered in vinyl backed with non-woven polyester. The countries with

175-415: Is very similar on the high school level. Amateur wrestling is a positionally-based form of grappling , and thus generally prohibits the following: While there is not much equipment that a wrestler wears, it is still highly specialized. A wrestling singlet is a one-piece, tight-fitting, colored, lycra uniform. The uniform is tight-fitting so as not to get grasped accidentally by the opponent and allows

210-461: The 1948 Summer Olympics , where he finished 7th in the heavyweight division in freestyle wrestling . Hutton made his debut in 1952, in a loss against Bill Longson . Hutton left Tulsa, as it was primarily a territory for light-heavyweight wrestlers, and went to Texas. While in Columbus, Ohio , in a territory run by Al Haft, Hutton would wrestle members of the audience. Beating Hutton would've earned

245-605: The International Olympic Committee announced that women's freestyle wrestling would be added to the Olympic games in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece with a total of four different weight classes. Until the early 1990s, the majority of women who participated in the sport had no other choice but to join the available men's teams. At the high school level, this may still be required in some areas depending on

280-738: The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship . He was also endorsed by the National Wrestling Association . McGuirk enjoyed several runs as champion. On May 16, 1938, McGuirk beat Danny McShain to capture his second world light heavyweight title. The National Wrestling Association had a 190-pound title (later raised to 200) that was known as the World Junior Heavyweight Championship . McGuirk won this title on June 19, 1939, from John Swenski. Between Tulsa and Hollywood, McGuirk dominated

315-606: The National Wrestling Coaches Association for the past 6 years; the world's top 16 teams compete in this event. In 2004, Missouri Valley College held the first Women's National Wrestling Championships which honored four individual champions. Later, the event would be hosted by the University of the Cumberlands in 2006. Dick Hutton Richard Heron Avis Hutton (October 4, 1923 – November 24, 2003)

350-522: The Cumberlands, Menlo College, Pacific University, and Neosho County CC. Cal-State Bakersfield are other schools that had a number of women competitors that only competed against each other or occasionally against Canadian college teams. As the sport continued to grow, coaches within women's wrestling formed the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA). This group created rules regarding eligibility, bylaws, and elected leaders for this association. Each year

385-633: The Junior Heavyweight division, but at least three other Junior Heavyweight Champions were recognized at the time. On December 28, 1949, McGuirk unified the National Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Championship with the National Wrestling Alliance's version by defeating Billy Goelz in Des Moines . Leroy McGuirk is credited as the longest male single's champion of all time. He captured

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420-753: The May 10, 1953 edition of the Tulsa Daily World , McGuirk said "He has a fine chance to get into the big money brackets. He has a lot to learn, but has the natural qualifications, and I won't be surprised at anything he may accomplish." Hutton did not disappoint, as he beat Lou Thesz on November 14, 1957, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Avey and McGuirk's actual territory covered most of Oklahoma and Arkansas. Said territory also included Joplin and Springfield, Missouri , Shreveport, Louisiana , plus Wichita Falls , and Tyler, Texas . On January 4, 1958, McGuirk took over

455-670: The NWA Championship to him. McGuirk and Watts worked together to promote Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the late 1970s. On July 22, 1978, their joint promotion of a wrestling show at the Louisiana Superdome drew an estimated 31,000 fans and a gate of $ 140,000. A dispute between the two in August 1979 strained their friendship. While Watts incorporated Mid-South Sports Inc. and had agreements Jim Barnett , Eddie Graham , Fritz Von Erich , and Vincent J. McMahon that made

490-451: The NWA from September 1950 to August 1956, and from August 1959 to August 1960. Between 1957 and 1958, McGuirk was made an honorary vice-president. One of McGuirk's first challenges as vice-president was to reconcile the promotional war that occurred between women's wrestling promoters Billy Wolfe and his ex-wife Mildred Burke . McGuirk aligned himself with Burke and hoped to resolve the dispute at

525-515: The National Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title on 6-19-1939 and had to vacate the title on 2-7-1950, for a title run of 3886 days (10yr-7m-19d). On February 7, 1950, McGuirk's career came to an end. In Little Rock, Arkansas , McGuirk was being driven to a restaurant by his wrestling pupil, Robert "Bob" Clay. In an attempt to prevent a collision, Clay locked the car's brakes, and McGuirk

560-517: The September 1953 NWA meeting in Chicago. By 1953, McGuirk was the primary booker for the junior heavyweight champion, while coordinating talent from southwestern Missouri to Little Rock, across Oklahoma, and into parts of Texas. Despite being the booker, McGuirk also took on the opportunity to train promising wrestlers. One of his most promising was eventual NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton . In

595-465: The U.S. Army and was a veteran of World War II. He attended Oklahoma A&M . While at Oklahoma A&M he was the NCAA wrestling champion three times, in 1947, 1948 and 1950. In 1949, he lost in the finals to Verne Gagne , a future professional wrestler . In total he was a four-time NCAA finalist, four-time All-American and three-time NCAA champion. Also while at Oklahoma A&M, he went to compete at

630-704: The entire business after Avey retired. Avey left wrestling to concentrate on his role as senior vice president of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank. One of the biggest issues McGuirk faced was the tension that occurred due to sporadic visits by world champion Buddy Rogers in the early 1960s. Many felt that the bigger promoters were locked in for visits by Rogers while territories such as McGuirk's, Jim Crockett in Charlotte, Karl Sarpolis in Amarillo, and Cowboy Luttrall in Tampa, to name

665-579: The fan $ 1,000. No one ever won. Hutton developed a friendship with Lou Thesz . After several competitive training contests with Hutton, Thesz considered him to be the best wrestler he'd ever faced and chose Hutton to be the next NWA World Champion, winning the title from himself. On November 14, 1957, in Toronto 's Maple Leaf Gardens 10,000 people saw Hutton beat Thesz for the belt after 35:15, when Thesz submitted to an abdominal stretch. He teamed regularly with Gene Kiniski in Toronto. On January 9, 1959, after

700-473: The following ways: As in the international styles, collegiate wrestling awards points for takedowns and reversals. Penalty points are awarded in collegiate wrestling according to the current rules, which penalize moves that would impair the life or limb of the opponent. However, the manner how infractions are penalized and points awarded to the offended wrestler differ in some aspects from the international styles. Collegiate wrestling also awards points for: In

735-457: The international styles, the format is now two three-minute periods. A wrestler wins the match when they were able to get more points than their opponent or 10 points lead in two rounds. For example, if one competitor gets a 10–0 lead in first the period, they will win by the superiority of points. Only a fall, injury default, or disqualification terminates the match; all other modes of victory result only in period termination. This format replaced

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770-535: The leading wrestlers in the Olympic Games and World Championships are Iran, the United States, Russia (and some of the former Soviet Union republics, especially Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan), Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, Cuba, India, Canada, Japan, Pakistan, South and North Korea, Germany, and historically Sweden and Finland. Because of the successful growth in female participation,

805-546: The number of intercollegiate programs continued to prosper with the WCWA now recognizing a total of 28 teams. Within these teams there are several who have National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) affiliation and most of them are allowed to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There is also a national dual meet championship for women's intercollegiate teams that have been sponsored by

840-578: The number of wrestlers. Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts was the first public school in America to create a varsity girls wrestling team. Girls have at times still competed against boys. University of Minnesota-Morris was the first university to create a varsity women's wrestling team. UMM's head coach, Doug Reese, followed in the footsteps of other schools like Missouri Valley College that pioneered programs for female wrestlers. University of

875-594: The old format of three two-minute periods played best two out of three. One side effect of the old format was that the losing wrestler could outscore the winner. For example, periods may be scored 3–2, 0–4, 1–0, leading to a total score of 4–6 but a win for the wrestler scoring fewer points. In collegiate wrestling, the period structure is different. A college match consists of one three-minute period, followed by two two-minute periods, with an overtime round if necessary. A high school match typically consists of three two-minute periods, with an overtime round if necessary. Under

910-458: The popularity of the combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA) has increased interest in amateur wrestling due to its effectiveness within the sport and its consideration as a core discipline. Greco-Roman and freestyle differ in what holds are permitted; in Greco-Roman, the wrestlers are permitted to hold and attack only above the waist. In both Greco-Roman and freestyle, points can be scored in

945-409: The promotion thrive. McGuirk became desperate and hoped that George Scott would help keep the territory afloat. On February 23, 1981, Watts filed documents to bring Mid-South to Tulsa. Matters worsened as seven wrestlers went on strike on August 21. Their grievance was that McGuirk had not paid them for the previous weeks work. Despite turning to Amarillo for wrestling talent, McGuirk saw the writing on

980-541: The quarterfinals of the 1930 NCAA Tournament. He would bounce back the next year to claim the 155-pound title at the 1931 NCAA Tournament. A year later, McGuirk competed in the 1932 NCAA Tournament at 174-pounds, where he finished as the NCAA runner-up. He finished his collegiate career as a two-time NCAA All-American . After graduation from college, McGuirk went to work for Sam Avey . On March 5, 1934, he beat Hugh Nichols in Tulsa for

1015-481: The referee to see each wrestler's body clearly when awarding points or a pin. Women wrestlers wear a higher cut singlet usually with a sports-bra underneath. Wrestling shoes are light, flexible, thin-soled, ankle-high sneakers that allow maximum speed and traction on the mat without giving up ankle support. The current rules call for laces (if any) to be covered so that they do not come untied during competition. In American high school and college wrestling headgear

1050-425: The standard rules for collegiate wrestling, draws are not possible; this rule is sometimes modified for young wrestlers. A match can be won in the following ways: While having similar victory conditions with Greco-Roman and freestyle, such as wins by fall , decision , injury , and disqualification , victory conditions in collegiate wrestling differ on some points from the international styles: Dual meet scoring

1085-500: The wall. In 1982, McGuirk ceased operations and left the city open for Bill Watts and Mid-South Wrestling to take over. McGuirk's daughter, Michelle Kathleen, better known in wrestling as Mike McGuirk , married B. Brian Blair , a wrestler for Mid-South. Both eventually worked for the World Wrestling Federation: Blair as one half of the tag team The Killer Bees , and Mike McGuirk as an in-ring announcer. McGuirk

Leroy McGuirk - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-593: Was an American amateur and professional wrestler. He was a three-time NCAA champion and, as a professional, held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , making him a one-time world champion in professional wrestling . Hutton was born in Amarillo, Texas to Bailey and Gladys Hutton. He had one brother, Jerald Hutton. His family later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where he became a two-time state finalist for Daniel Webster High School . Later on Dick joined

1155-462: Was born in Garvin, Oklahoma . He suffered the loss of his father before he was twelve and had to endure the loss of sight in one of his eyes due to a swimming mishap. McGuirk overcame many adversities to persevere in wrestling. He started wrestling at Tulsa Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and competed at Oklahoma A&M from 1928 to 1932 under coach Edward C. Gallagher . McGuirk would lose in

1190-828: Was inducted into the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. He is also a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame . Of his charitable work, McGuirk is best known for working with Ed Lewis . They were responsible for instituting the NWA "Leader Dogs for the Blind" annual charity function. He died on September 9, 1988, in Claremore . Amateur wrestling At the middle school and high school levels, wrestlers compete in scholastic wrestling . In collegiate wrestling , there are minor differences in some scholastic wrestling rules. The rapid rise in

1225-431: Was thrown against the front windshield. McGuirk's tinted glasses were shattered and the side of the glasses covering his good eye were fractured, blinding McGuirk permanently. This led to another Oklahoman, Danny Hodge , rising to prominence in the Junior Heavyweight field, and who by 1960, became the principal headliner for McGuirk. After the accident, Avey kept McGuirk as a partner. McGuirk became second vice-president of

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