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Joined: Mar 2002
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One of the fun things about researching information for the Kansas All-American T-Shirt I am working on is the emails and information I get. In my initial contact with Warren Appleby and The Wrestling Hall of Fame they recommended three coaches to me. Joe Seay, Myron Roderick and Ed Gallagher. I received a great email today from Randy Lemon regarding Coach Gallagher. He has given me permission to post it but I am confident that we often forget about those before us who have layed the foundation for the success of wrestling in the State of Kansas. Wait until you read this story of Coach Gallagher and you will know why he is among the three that I am certainly including as coaches for the Kansas All-American Team.

Dear Mike,

FYI,

I wrestled for Joe Seay while at OSU and know him quite well. I also worked at the Hall of Fame while in college. Coach Seay was an All-American winning a Greco-Roman title way back in the AAU Nationals, now the USA Senior Nationals. I am not sure of the year but if you called the Hall of Fame, they would have that information easily accessible as he is listed on the Wall of Champions.

Ed Gallagher's principle Kansas connection is that he was born in Perth, Kansas. He, however, came to Oklahoma shortly after that with his family to take part in the land run opening of the Cherokee Strip where he went to junior high and high school. Gallagher played football (owning a national record), basketball and ran track (many conference titles prior to National level competition) while at OSU. There was no wrestling at OSU then. He is commonly regarded as one of the greatest athletes in OSU history. He was recently selected to the top ten list, a list that includes the likes of Barry Sanders, Bob Kurkland, Robin Ventura, Bob Tway and John Smith. While coaching at OSU (then OKA&M), he led the Cowboys to the first NCAA Championship and 11 national titles in 13 attempts. He coached the Cowboys to 19 undefeated seasons, 8 prior to the inception of the National tournament; otherwise he would have coached 19 national championship teams which would have been more than "The Great" Dan Gable. This information conveniently is not mentioned and in many cases not known when discussions of "The Greatest" comes up. In many knowledgeable circles, Gallagher is deemed the greatest. As a result of all this, USA Wrestling selected Gallagher the "greatest" of the first half of the century with Gable the second half. Gallagher was also selected the second most influential person in the history of American wrestling by WIN behind Gable. Gallagher was also a coach on the US team that attended the Berlin Olympics and made Sports Illustrated's top 50 list of Kansas athletes. A curious side note to his "Kansas Connection" is that after graduating from college, he ironically coached Basketball at Baker owning a victory over the almost immortal Phog Allen. After that, he went back to OSU to become the athletic director. It was at this time; he created wrestling at OSU and changed the face of the sport. The gymnasium at OSU is ppropriately named The Gallagher-Iba Arena.

I am very thankful that you feel that he is worthy of Kansas recognition. He was always proud of his "Kansas Connections" and would be honored and delighted to be recognized as such. I have often felt that he should be in the Kansas Sports Hall Of Fame, as he is enshrined in several Hall of Fames already, including the National Wrestling, the Helm's, OSU's and the Oklahoma Sports Hall Of Fame. Your recognition might and hopefully will be a step towards that.

Randy Lemon

Okay now back to my comments. I agree, Why is Coach Gallagher not in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame? I haven't checked yet but is he in the Kansas Wrestling Hall of Fame?

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Mr. Edward C. Gallagher (1887-1940) claim to fame is in the State of Oklahoma. Coach Gallagher won no championship either as a participant or coach in either high school or college.

While Coach Gallagher's contributions are monumental in Oklahoma, the great coach does not qualify for membership in any Hall of Fame in Kansas by virtue of non-competition in the state.

An example is Myron Roderick and Joe Seay, who won high school State Championship Titles while attending high school in Kansas.

Mr. Gallagher was only at Baker University from 1913-1914, returning to Oklahoma State in 1915.

Why would you believe Mr. Gallagher to be eligible for a Kansas Hall of Fame?

Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame - Gallagher - 1990

Edward C. Gallagher

Edward C. Gallagher started Oklahoma State University on its road to greatness in the sport of wrestling when he put his first Aggie varsity wrestling team on the mat in 1916. He guided the Cowboys on a rapid march to national prominence, leading them to their first National Amateur Athletic Union title in 1925 and NCAA National title in 1928. His legendary coaching has established a strong winning tradition that has gained OSU national and international recognition.

In his 23 years of coaching, Gallagher produced 19 undefeated teams and posted an unparalleled dual meet record of 138-5-4. Prior to 1932, he claimed 68 consecutive victories. He coached in 13 NCAA tournaments, capturing 11 national titles. In addition, he lead his teams to six NAAU, four Missouri Valley and six Southwest Conference titles.

Individually, Gallagher guided 37 NCAA champs, 32 national amateur titlists and three Olympic gold medallists. Internationally, 15 Cowboys he coached were members of the U.S. Olympic teams in 1924, 1928, 1932 and 1936. Gallagher was elected president of the American Association of Wrestling Coaches in 1928, 1929 and 1930. He was named Olympic wrestling coach in 1932 and 1936. He has also been inducted into Oklahoma State's Hall of Fame.

Despite Gallagher's endless list of accomplishments, he never wrestled a match in his life. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma A&M in 1909. That same year, he accepted a position as head track coach, assistant football coach and P.E. instructor at OSU. In 1913, he became the athletic director at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas and later returned to OSU in 1915 to serve as director of physical education and wrestling.

In 1938, he devoted his career to coaching wrestling full time. His success as a wrestling coach was largely due to his engineering knowledge, from which he applied the principles of leverages and counters to the development of over 300 wrestling holds.

Gallagher was famous for instilling true sportsmanship and high moral character in young wrestlers. He died in 1940 in Oklahoma City of pneumonia. His funeral was held in the A&M fieldhouse which now bears his name, Gallagher-Iba arena.


Richard D. Salyer
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Dear Mr. Salyer,
I was very dissapointed to say the least to read your response with regard to Mr. Gallagher being included in discussions of Kansas recognition and his, as you would say I am sure, "dubious" Kansas connection. It was somewhat negative and distressing. Especially after the wonderful correspondence that I have had with Mr. Furches which has been so positive and promising.
It was crafty for you to include all of the information that you did on Mr. Gallagher. But, I have read it all before. It was a wonderful cut and paste job that I am sure made you look more credible. One would even think that you knew Mr. Gallagher personally.
"Why would you believe Mr. Gallagher to be eligible for a Kansas Hall of Fame?" was your comment. I thought that was answered in the bio. that I provided, but perhaps it was not clear enough. And now a question for you. Why do you feel that Mr. Gallagher is not "Kansas" enough to be recognized in Kansas. And by the way, I am sorry that you feel that he is not. He would be very dissapointed to know that he was viewed that way. I never suggested that he be included in the KWCA Hall as I am well aware of their requirements. Although I feel he is worthy for KWCA recognition, I will not go there as I know that my opinion is biased.
The Kansas Hall of Fame though is another matter as he does qualify for inclusion in it as I have already consulted them. In fact the Hall of Fame website only states that a person is eligible if they have brought pride to the state in athletics. Dare you say that he has not. A wealth of pride he has brought to the state. Of course that is a vague qualification requirement so I of course called them. There are four different ways to qualify and he qualifies on two. But why am I telling you this. I would have thought by reading all of the very enlightening information that you post daily that you would already know this.
We in Kansas should be proud of the "Father of Amateur Wrestling in America" and be proud to have him in our Hall instead of nit-picking a way to exclude him. Did you ever wonder why he did not wrestle in high school or college. He did not because there was no wrestling then in Kansas or Oklahoma. He built the program at Oklahoma A&M (now OSU) and led the team to the first NCAA championship. From there, it spread to Kansas and other teams in the then Missouri Valley and Big 6. How can we not be proud of that. I would say that the state owes him a great deal more than just inclusion in some Hall of Fame.
I hope that you do not get too made at me over this, but you touched a nerve. You gave your opinion, so I am just giving mine. I do appreciate all of your support for Kansas Wrestling though. We need more people like you.
Keep up the good work.
Sincerely, Randy Lemon


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