UNI Wrestling marks its centennial season in 2023

UNI Wrestling marks its centennial season in 2023

The UNI Panther wrestling program is celebrating its 100th year on campus this season.  The Panthers will host their first home dual of the season in the McLeod Center this Sunday, Dec. 10 when they welcome Columbia.

"First Wrestling Team," 1923, in the University of Northern Iowa, Old Gold 1923, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Seven wrestlers in black and white

The history of the wrestling program goes all the way back to when UNI was known as the Iowa State Teachers College (ISTC). The return of male students after World War I sparked the beginning of wrestling as an intercollegiate sport. In 1923, ISTC won its first meet vs. Cornell College.

UNI Wrestling 100 1923/2023

Other key years in UNI wrestling history include 1950 – the Panthers won a national title when UNI hosted the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships. The Panthers defeated such teams as Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Cornell, Nebraska and Oklahoma in front of the home crowd in the Men's Gymnasium, which would later become known as the West Gym.

In 1952, UNI wrestler Bill Smith became UNI’s only Olympic gold medalist, winning the freestyle wrestling welterweight class in the Helsinki games. 

Bill Smith in black and white) in wrestling gear

‌Bill Smith display in the West Gym

UNI Athletics will be celebrating the centennial season in several ways throughout the next few months, including weekly throwbacks on social media accounts and video tributes to moments in history played during duals in the McLeod Center.

All aboard the Panther Train!