Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski was a Canadian-American professional football player who was a fullback and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Renowned for his strength and size, Nagurski was also a successful professional wrestler, recognized as a multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Ten Conference.
Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association (AWA), the predominant promotion throughout the Midwest and Manitoba for many years. He remained in this position until 1991, when the company folded.
John William Smith is an American folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Smith was a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, and a six-time world level champion with two Olympic Championships and four World Wrestling Championships. Smith is the only American wrestler ever to win six consecutive World and Olympic championships as a competitor. At the end of his competitive career, Smith had won more World and Olympic gold medals in wrestling than any other American. Smith was widely known for his low single leg takedown, and is considered one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time.
Leo Joseph Nomellini was an Italian-American professional football player and professional wrestler. He played college football for the Minnesota Gophers and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the 1950 NFL draft. He played 14 seasons as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), all of them with the 49ers, playing his first three years as an offensive tackle as well.
Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minutes when he set a world record of 2:14:28. Edelen also won the 1964 U.S. Olympic marathon trials at Yonkers and represented the U.S. in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
James Michael LeClair was an American football player and coach. He played as a linebacker for 12 seasons, from 1972 to 1983, in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cincinnati Bengals and two seasons, from 1984 to 1985, in the United States Football League (USFL) with the New Jersey Generals. LeClair played college football for the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. He served as the head football coach at Mayville State University, from 1986 to 1988. LeClair was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1999.
Kevin Andre Jackson is an American retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, and mixed martial artist. Following his competitive career, Jackson would become a wrestling coach.
Soslan Petrovich Andiyev was a Soviet heavyweight freestyle wrestler. He was an Olympic champion in 1976 and 1980, world champion in 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1978, European champion in 1974, 1975 and 1982, and Soviet champion in 1973–78 and 1980. He won the World Cup in 1976 and 1981, but missed the 1984 Olympics due to their boycott by the Soviet Union and retired the same year. After that he first worked as a national wrestling coach, but in 1989 returned to his native Ossetia to become a sports functionary. In 1990–98, he served as vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee. In 2006 he was inducted into the FILA Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Brandon Douglas Paulson is a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and current wrestling coach. Paulson was born in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and is a 1992 graduate of Anoka High School. At Anoka High, Paulson was a three time state champion in his weight class and was named Mr. Minnesota Wrestling in his senior year after finishing with a career record of 155-12-1. Paulson was the first high school wrestler to earn a spot on the U.S. National Senior team when he qualified for the 1991–1992 team. In 1993 he was a Junior World Silver Medalist. Overall, he earned 16 national titles in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling, and was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 114.5 lbs weight class in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boris Mikhaylovich Gurevich was a Soviet wrestler.
James "Jim" Martinez is an American former wrestler. He was born in Osseo, Minnesota. Martinez was an Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Martinez did professional wrestling in Minnesota for the American Wrestling Association in 1984. He also won a bronze medal at the 1985 World Wrestling Championships.
Dennis Marwin Koslowski is an American amateur wrestler and professional wrestler. He was born in Watertown, South Dakota. He was Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1988, and won a silver medal in 1992. In 2009, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.
Jay Paul Robinson, known as J Robinson, is an American former wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, where he competed as a middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler.
Alan Rice is an American former wrestler and coach. He competed in the men's Greco-Roman featherweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was also a silver medalist at the 1955 Pan American Games in freestyle wrestling, competing in the 63 kg weight class. He was an AAU national champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Rice wrestled collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was an NCAA All-American in 1949.
Joseph Marion "Joe" Corso is an American wrestler and coach. He competed in the men's freestyle 57 kg at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and was USA Women's Wrestling's first coach.
