Spoke with Olympic Champion Bill Smith and Coach of the 1968 Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team

Few wrestlers in the United States have been able to match the accomplishments of Bill Smith, who hails from Council Bluffs.

Smith was an excellent wrestler while at Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs,Iowa finishing second and third at the state wrestling meet. But it was at the collegiate level and beyond that Smith excelled.

While at the Iowa State Teacher's College, now know as the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Smith was a two-time NCAA champion and a three-time NAAU champion. He was also named as the "Outstanding Wrestler" in the 1951 National AAU Tournament.

His crowning achievement, however, came in the summer of 1952 when he became the only American to win a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland.

Smith was named coach of the 1968 Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team.

Smith was inducted into the Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1977 and was named to the Des Moines Sunday Register's Sports Hall of Fame.

Bill Smith was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1972.

I spoke with Bill this evening about his time with the 1968 Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team.  He spoke of my father and described Dad as a fast and agile heavyweight that impressed him with his attitude.  We talked about the two week 1968 Olympic training camp at the University of Guelph and how the Canadian wrestlers responded to the American style of training.  He talked about the 1968 Olympic Games and gave a great narrative of one of my father's freestyle matches.  Bill was a very friendly and delightful person to talk to, I hope to be talking to him again soon!