marchmatness1928–2026

1961 NCAA Championships

Champions, team standings, and brackets for all 10 weights.

The 1961 NCAA championships had 10 weights and 229 bouts. Oklahoma State won the team title with 82 points; Oklahoma was second with 63. Oklahoma State had two of the 10 individual champions.

10weights
10individual champions
229bouts
18wins by fall

Most falls in the least time: Ted Ellis, Oklahoma State · 2 falls in 10:18

Open 1961 in Match Finder

Individual champions

1961 individual champions by weight
WeightChampionProgramTitle bout
115Eliott 'Gray' Simons (1) · 2nd titleLock Haven (PA)Lock Haven (PA)Dec 7–3 over John 'Dick' Wilson (2), Toledo (OH)
123DuWayne Miller (1)OklahomaOklahomaDec 6–5 over Masaaki Hatta (2), Oklahoma State
130Larry Lauchle (1)Pittsburgh (PA)Pittsburgh (PA)Dec 7–0 over Dave Jensen (3), Northern Iowa
137Norm Young (2)Michigan StateMichigan StateDec 5–2 over Ron Finley (5), Oregon State
147Larry Hayes (1) · 3rd titleIowa StateIowa StateDec 4–0 over Ron Pifer (3), Penn State
157Phil Kinyon (1)Oklahoma StateOklahoma StateDec 3–0 over Kirk Pendleton (2), Lehigh (PA)
167Don Conway (5)Oregon StateOregon StateDec 7–4 over David 'Bruce' Campbell (3), Oklahoma State
177Bob Johnson (4)Oklahoma StateOklahoma StateDec 9–5 over Wayne Baughman (3), Oklahoma
191Leonard Lordino (1)Northern ColoradoNorthern ColoradoDec 4–0 over Lavern 'Nick' Kohls, Colorado State
UnlimitedDale Lewis (1) · 2nd titleOklahomaOklahomaDec 3–2 over Ted Ellis (2), Oklahoma State

Team standings

Scoring details →

Published standings · Source: NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Records Book, All-Time Team Results, 1961

Head coach for the 1961 tournament, from the coaching record; a dash where none is established yet.

1961 team standings
RankProgramHead coachPoints
1Oklahoma StateMyron Roderick82
2OklahomaTommy Evans63
3Iowa StateHarold Nichols29
4Oregon StateDale Thomas28
5Pittsburgh (PA)Rex Peery26
6Lehigh (PA)Gerry Leeman24
7Penn StateCharlie Speidel20
T8Michigan StateFendley Collins19
T8Northern IowaBill Koll19
10MichiganCliff Keen18
11Colorado StateOllie Woods17
T12Lock Haven (PA)Hubert Jack13
T12Northern ColoradoJohn Hancock13
T14Purdue (IN)Claude Reeck10
T14Toledo (OH)Joe Scalzo10
T16Northwestern (IL)Ken Kraft9
T16Southern Illinois CarbondaleJames Wilkinson9
18UtahMarvin G. Hess7
19Minnesota-MankatoRometo Macias6
20Portland State (OR)Howard Westcott4
Show all 39 teams
1961 team standings, continued
RankProgramHead coachPoints
T21IllinoisB.R. Patterson3
T21NebraskaMickey Sparano3
T21Western ColoradoLeroy Tracy Borah3
T24Army (NY)LeRoy Alitz2
T24Citadel (SC)John Gutton2
T24Kansas StateFritz Knorr2
T24WyomingEverett Lantz2
T28Bowling Green (OH)Bruce Bellard1
T28Coast Guard (CT)Frank S. Kapral1
T28ColoradoLinn Long1
T28Cornell College (IA)Barron Bremner1
T28Kent State (OH)Joe Begala1
T28Navy (MD)Ed Peery1
T28Ohio StateCasey Fredericks1
T28Rochester Tech (NY)Earl Fuller1
T28San Jose State (CA)Hugh Mumby1
T28South Dakota StateWarren Williamson1
T28Springfield (MA)Douglas E. Parker1
T28Washington (WA)Ted Bredehoft1
17 more programs that entered but are not in the published standings

* Calculated from the bouts under the 1961 scoring rules.

1961 programs not in the published standings
RankProgramHead coachPoints
24*IowaDave McCuskey2*
29*Virginia TechFrank Teske1*
42*Air Force (CO)Karl Kitt0*
42*Brigham Young (UT)Carl Bair0*
42*California-ChicoNot yet established0*
42*California-Los AngelesBriggs Hunt0*
42*California-PolySheldon Harden0*
42*Lewis & Clark (OR)Fred O. Wilson0*
42*Long Beach State (CA)Warren Boring0*
42*Miami (OH)Jay Fry0*
42*MinnesotaWally Johnson0*
42*New YorkFrank Russell0*
42*OregonMike Reuter0*
42*Pacific (OR)George Tall Chief0*
42*Tennessee-ChattanoogaAndy Nardo0*
42*Washington StateMyron Newell0*
42*Wesleyan (CT)Nathan Osur0*

Cite this page: “1961 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships”, March Matness, NCAA Division I championship record, release affad6e7. https://www.marchmatness.app/tournaments/1961/

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