marchmatness1928–2026

1953 NCAA Championships

Champions, team standings, and brackets for 9 of the 10 weights.

The 1953 NCAA championships had 10 weights and 206 bouts. Penn State won the team title with 21 points; Oklahoma was second with 15.

Why 1 weight has no bracket

10weights
10individual champions
206bouts
32wins by fall

Most falls in the least time: Jack Ellena Sr., California-Los Angeles · 2 falls in 6:15

Open 1953 in Match Finder

Individual champions

1953 individual champions by weight
WeightChampionProgramTitle bout
115Hugh Peery (1) · 2nd titlePittsburgh (PA)Pittsburgh (PA)Dec 5–1 over Bob Christensen, Northwestern (IL)
123Dick Mueller (3)MinnesotaMinnesotaFall 4:45 over Donald Reece (1), Oklahoma
130Norvard 'Snip' Nalan (1)MichiganMichiganDec 7–5 over Joseph 'Dick' Lemyre (2), Penn State
137Len DeAugustino (1)Lock Haven (PA)Lock Haven (PA)Dec 3–1 over Norton Compton (2), Illinois
147Frank Bettucci (1)Cornell (NY)Cornell (NY)Dec 6–3 over Bob Hoke, Michigan State
157Jim Harmon (2)Northern IowaNorthern IowaDec 6–4 over Dan Sniff (4), Colorado State
167Don Dickason (2)Cornell (NY)Cornell (NY)Dec 1–1 (tiebreaker) over Frank Marks (1), Oklahoma
177Ned Blass (3)Oklahoma StateOklahoma StateDec 8–4 over Al Paulekas (1), Army (NY)
191Hud Samson (3)Penn StatePenn StateFall 4:15 over Charles Weber (1), West Chester (PA)
UnlimitedDan McNairAuburn (AL)Auburn (AL)Dec 0–0 (tiebreaker) over Gene Nicks (1), Oklahoma State

Team standings

Scoring details →

Published standings · Source: NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Records Book, All-Time Team Results, 1953

Head coach for the 1953 tournament, from the coaching record; a dash where none is established yet.

1953 team standings
RankProgramHead coachPoints
1Penn StateCharlie Speidel21
2OklahomaPort Robertson15
3Cornell (NY)Erie J. Miller13
4Oklahoma StateArt Griffith11
5Northern IowaBill Koll10
6Pittsburgh (PA)Rex Peery9
7MichiganCliff Keen8
T8Michigan StateFendley Collins7
T8MinnesotaWally Johnson7
T10Auburn (AL)Arnold W. Umbach6
T10Colorado StateJulius Wagner6
T10IllinoisB.R. Patterson6
T10Lock Haven (PA)Hubert Jack6
T14Army (NY)Lloyd Appleton5
T14Northwestern (IL)Jack Riley5
T14West Chester (PA)Willard Trezise5
17Toledo (OH)Joe Scalzo4
T18Brown (RI)Ralph G. Anderton3
T18California-Los AngelesBriggs Hunt3
T20Iowa StateHugo Otopalik2
T20Ithaca (NY)Herbert Broadwell2
T20Washington StateWilliam Tomaras2
Show all 29 teams
1953 team standings, continued
RankProgramHead coachPoints
T23ColoradoRay Jenkins1
T23Columbia (NY)Richard Waite1
T23Franklin & Marshall (PA)W. Roy Phillips1
T23Harvard (MA)Bob Pickett1
T23Indiana (IN)Charlie McDaniel1
T23Lehigh (PA)Gerry Leeman1
T23Syracuse (NY)Joe McDaniel1
24 more programs that entered but are not in the published standings

* Calculated from the bouts under the 1953 scoring rules.

1953 programs not in the published standings
RankProgramHead coachPoints
23*Cornell College (IA)Chuck Bryant1*
31*Arkansas StateHarold Nichols0*
31*Brigham Young (UT)Reed Nilsen0*
31*City College (NY)Joseph Sapora0*
31*Hofstra (NY)Walter Stone0*
31*IowaDave McCuskey0*
31*Kansas StateLeon Reynard0*
31*Kent State (OH)Joe Begala0*
31*Lincoln (PA)Robert Gardner0*
31*MarylandSully Krouse0*
31*Millersville (PA)H. Grant Hurst0*
31*Minnesota-MankatoRometo Macias0*
31*NebraskaAl Partin0*
31*Oregon StateJim Dixon0*
31*Princeton (NJ)Jimmy Reed0*
31*San Diego State (CA)Harry Hartwell Broadbent0*
31*South Dakota StateHarold Holmes0*
31*Southern Illinois CarbondaleJames Wilkinson0*
31*Springfield (MA)Raymond E. Sparks0*
31*Ursinus (PA)Kuhrt Wieneke0*
31*Virginia MilitaryOscar Gupton0*
31*Virginia TechFrank Teske0*
31*Wesleyan (CT)Henry Elespru0*
31*WyomingGlenn Magnus interim0*

Cite this page: “1953 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships”, March Matness, NCAA Division I championship record, release affad6e7. https://www.marchmatness.app/tournaments/1953/

Report an error on this page