Bruce Baumgartner

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Bruce Baumgartner
Baumgartner in 2022
Personal information
Full nameBruce Robert Baumgartner
BornNovember 2, 1960 (1960-11-02) (age 63)
Haledon, New Jersey, U.S.
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona 130 kg
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul 130 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta 130 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1986 Budapest 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1993 Toronto 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Atlanta 130 kg
Silver medal – second place 1989 Martigny 130 kg
Silver medal – second place 1990 Tokyo 130 kg
Silver medal – second place 1994 Istanbul 130 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Kiev +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Budapest 130 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Clermont-Ferrand 130 kg
Goodwill Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Moscow +100 kg
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1981 Bucharest +100 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar de Plata 130 kg
Silver medal – second place 1983 Caracas 130 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1988 Mexico City 130 kg
Gold medal – first place 1989 Colorado Springs 130 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Indiana State Sycamores
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Gold medal – first place 1982 Ames Heavyweight
Silver medal – second place 1981 Princeton Heavyweight
Silver medal – second place 1980 Corvallis Heavyweight

Bruce Robert Baumgartner (born November 2, 1960) is an American former freestyle wrestler. He is the current assistant vice president for university advancement and former athletic director at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania near Erie, Pennsylvania and current President of USA Wrestling.

Baumgartner is among the best American wrestlers of all time; his five World/Olympic titles place him behind only Jordan Burroughs, John Smith, and Adeline Gray.[1] Between 1983 and 1996, Baumgartner won 13 World or Olympic medals, the most World and Olympic medals among American wrestlers.[2]

Life and career[edit]

Baumgartner was born in Haledon, New Jersey. He is one of the most accomplished American wrestlers of all time, winning 4 Olympic medals (2-Gold, 1-Silver, 1-Bronze), 9 World Championship medals (3-Gold, 3-Silver, 3-Bronze) and 4 Pan-American medals (3-Gold, 1-Silver,); he has also won 12 World Cup medals (7-Gold, 5-Silver), an NCAA title (and 2 Runner-Up finishes), 4 Olympic Festival titles, 2 AAU National titles and a Junior National title.

During high school, Baumgartner excelled on the wrestling team, going 23–0, but was defeated in the NJ State Championship match. During the off-season he threw shot put and discus on the track team, setting several records in the shot put. Baumgartner is a four-time Olympian and owns four Olympic Medals: two gold, one silver and one bronze. He holds a Bachelor's degree in education from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN where he competed collegiately for 4 years. He frequently worked out alongside Kurt Thomas, an Olympic Gymnast. During his collegiate career he finished runner-up at Nationals his sophomore and junior years, and was the 1982 NCAA National Champion his senior year completing an undefeated season of 44–0. His collegiate record was 134–12 with 73 falls. In 1995, he was presented the James E. Sullivan Award by the Amateur Athletic Union as the outstanding amateur athlete in the U.S. He was sponsored through the New York Athletic Club. Baumgartner attended Manchester Regional High School in Haledon, New Jersey.[3]

Baumgartner ranked as one of the top super-heavyweight freestyle wrestlers for more than a decade. Winning his first World Championship medal, a bronze, in 1983; he won the World Championship in Los Angeles. He confirmed his status with the Communist Bloc (Eastern European) wrestlers by winning in 1986, clinching his first of his three world titles.

In his second Olympic final in Seoul, he took silver, behind Georgian David Gobejishvili. Four years later, in 1992, he won the rematch in Barcelona, en route to a second Olympic gold. After winning world titles in 1993 and 1995, Baumgartner was favored to win his third gold in Atlanta, but a loss to Russian Andrey Shumilin left him with a bronze medal.

Championships[edit]

In addition to his World (3) and Olympic titles (2), Baumgartner amassed three golds at the Pan American Games, 17 American titles and eight World Cup wins. An NCAA National Championship, 2, NCAA Runner-Up finishes, 2 AAU National Titles and a Junior National title.

In 1998, Baumgartner was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame; in 2003, the Missouri Valley Conference named him an 'Institutional Great' and inducted him into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame. In 2008, Baumgartner was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.[4] He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2002 and the International Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame (FILA) in 2003.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jordan Burroughs is named a 2017 Comeback Wrestler of the Year by United World Wrestling". Archived from the original on February 14, 2018.
  2. ^ "Bruce Baumgartner Elected President Of USA Wrestling - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Bruce Baumgartner profile, The Washington Post, accessed April 26, 2007.
  4. ^ "Wrestler Bruce Baumgartner to 18515". August 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2023.

External links[edit]

Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  United States
Atlanta 1996
Succeeded by