10 Best Wrestlers from Ohio All-time

Profiles on the 10 best wrestlers from Ohio all-time plus top 25 ranked

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Ohio has a long history of legends accomplishing amazing feats in the sport of wrestling.

From Harry Steel capturing Ohio’s first Olympic Gold in 1924 to David Taylor winning the 2020 Olympics along with three World Championships, you will find that some of the best wrestlers in the history of America reign from the Buckeye state.

In total, the wrestlers on the top 10 list have captured:

• 13 NCAA championships
• 17 World or Olympic medals
• 9 World or Olympic gold medals

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The top 10 wrestlers from Ohio based on high school, college, and international achievements

(top 25 ranked at the end of the article)

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#10 Harry Steel

It took Harry Steel just 14 months to go from joining the newly formed 1923 Ohio State wrestling team to winning an Olympic gold medal.

Steel Picks up Wrestling

After making the varsity football team as a junior, Steel decided to give wrestling a try. He picked up the sport quickly, and in 1924, went undefeated capturing the Western Conference (now Big Ten) heavyweight wrestling championship.

Paris Olympics

Later that year, Steel earned the alternate spot for the Olympic games held in Paris. When the wrestler who was supposed to go could not attend, Steel took the spot for team USA.

While in Paris, he came under the tutelage of America’s top wrestler, Robin Reed. Reed taught Steel some of his best moves, notably the “leg dive” which he used throughout the tournament.

The training paid off and Harry won the 1924 heavyweight title, becoming the first wrestler from Ohio to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

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#9 Tommy Rowlands

Hey may have been a heavyweight, but Tommy Rowlands had the technique of a lightweight.

Ohio State’s First 4x all-American

As a freshman at Ohio State University, Tommy burst onto the scene by finishing 2nd at the 2001 NCAA Championships, falling only to John Lockhart of Illinois 2-1 in overtime.

The following year, he defeated Steve Mocco in the Big Ten finals and again defeated him two weeks later at the NCAA tournament to claim his first NCAA title.

An injury sustained in the NCAA semifinals his junior year prevented Rowlands from defending his title.

However, the following season, he once again stood atop the podium after winning his 2nd NCAA title and becoming Ohio State’s first four-time all-American.

Freestyle Career

After college, Tommy had a successful freestyle career claiming two US Open titles, a Pan-American championship, and finishing 5th at the 2007 World Championships held in Azerbaijan.

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#8 Joe McFarland

Joe McFarland claimed two state titles for North Olmsted High School before heading off to wrestle for the Wolverines in college.

2x NCAA Runner-up

Wrestling for the University of Michigan, McFarland was a 4x all-American, Big Ten champ, and twice finished as the NCAA runner-up.

World Silver Medal

After college, McFarland won a silver medal in the 1986 World Championships and won the 1988 World Cup defeating world champion Hasar Isiev of the Soviet Union in the finals.

Back to Ann Arbor

In 1999, McFarland took the head coach job at the University of Michigan – a position he held for 19 seasons.

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#7 Greg Wojciechowski

Before was known as the “Great Wojo”, Greg Wojciechowski was a dominant heavyweight wrestler reigning Toledo, Ohio.

College Champ

Wrestling for the University of Toledo, he claimed the 1971 NCAA heavyweight crown and finished as runner-up in 1970 and 1972 (losing to 400 lb Chris Taylor of Iowa State).

Olympics Boycotted

Wojciechowski made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but unfortunately was unable to attend due to America’s boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

The Great Wojo is Born

Sidelined from the Olympics, he began training as a professional wrestler. The “Great Wojo”, as he went by in the ring, won several professional world wrestling titles and retired as the World Wrestling Association’s champion in 1987.

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#6 Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman is known to most as “the Hammer” due to his brutal ground-and-pound tactics used en route to claiming the first UFC heavyweight title in 1997.

However, he was dominating opponents on the wrestling mat long before he was pounding foes in the cage.

The University of Miami

As a two-time state champion from a small school, Coleman received little attention from large division 1 colleges, so he decided to attend Miami University in Ohio.

As a junior, he finished 4th in the nation which gave him the opportunity to transfer to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility.

NCAA Champion

In 1988, wrestling for the Buckeyes, Coleman won a school record 50 matches and finished as Big Ten Champion and NCAA champion in the 190-pound weight class.

World Silver and Barcelona Olympics

After college, Coleman had a successful freestyle career, winning a silver medal at the 1991 World Championships, and finished 7th in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

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#5 Harry Lester

Harry Lester is the lone wrestler on the list that found his success in the art of Greco-Roman wrestling.

Greco-Roman Specialist

After winning four state titles in high school, Lester was a highly coveted collegiate recruit. He originally went to Iowa State, but transferred to Northern Michigan after one year to train full-time in Greco-Roman.

World and Olympic Games

His focus on a single style paid off, as he made eight World Teams for the United States, collected two World bronze medals, and competed in the 2012 Olympic games.

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#4 Bobby Douglas

Bobby Douglas was a two-time state champion for Bridgeport High School where he helped lead his team to their first ever state championship in 1959.

College Success

After high school, Bobby attended West Liberty College, where he won an NAIA title as a freshman. His title qualified him for the NCAA Division 1 tournament and he went onto reach the finals, finishing as the runner-up.

He then transferred to Oklahoma State University and won a Big Eight Conference title.

Freestyle Success

After college, Bobby had an outstanding senior-level freestyle career. He was a six-time World team member, two-time World medalist, and two-time Olympian, competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Dan Gable

At the 1968 Olympic Team trials, Douglas defeated the up-and-coming Dan Gable 11-1 and claimed the spot for team U.S.A. to compete in Mexico City.

Two years later, he again faced Gable at the US World Team Trials where he won the first two matches in a best-of-three series.

However, the coaches were not satisfied with the result and had the two wrestle again. In fact, Douglas defeated Gable in five straight matches that day before they finally gave him the US World Team spot.

Douglas went onto claim a silver medal at the 1969 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 1970 World championships.

Coaching Career

After being named the USA’s outstanding wrestler in 1970, Douglas retired and focused on his coaching career.

During his coaching tenure at Arizona State and Iowa State, Bobby Douglas won over 400 dual meets, coached 13 NCAA champions, and 110 all-Americans. He also coached Cael Sanderson to an Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

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#3 Logan Stieber

Logan Stieber has the distinct honor of being the only four-time state and NCAA champion on this list.

High School Phenom

Stieber had only one loss in high school, which came at the hands of David Taylor in the Ironman finals his freshman year.

Not only did he win four state titles, but he also placed 6th and 3rd at the Senior World Team Trials while in high school, defeating former NCAA champions and Olympians in the process.

Ohio State

In his freshman campaign at Ohio State, Stieber captured his first NCAA title in dramatic fashion. After losing to Jordan Oliver earlier in the season, he upset the Oklahoma State Cowboy in the national finals by holding off a last second takedown attempt by Oliver.

Stieber went onto win three more NCAA titles at Ohio State, becoming just the fourth wrestler in history to accomplish the feat.

World Champion

In 2016, Stieber capped off his historic career with a World Championship at 61 kg, defeating Georgia’s Beka Lomtadze by a score of 8-4 in the finals.

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#2 Lee Kemp

Lee Kemp didn’t start wrestling until his freshman year in high school, but he quickly mastered the sport.

In his final two high school seasons, he went undefeated and captured state titles in 1973 and 1974.

Three-time NCAA Champ

As a true freshman at the University of Wisconson, he was the NCAA runner-up losing in the finals by a split referee’s decision to Chuck Yagla of Iowa. He never lost again in college enroute to becoming a three-time NCAA Champion.

Dan Gable

One of Kemp’s most memorable wins came during his sophomore season when 26-year old Dan Gable came out of retirement to prepare for another Olympic run. They both entered the Northern Open, hosted at the University of Wisconsin. The 18-year old Kemp won the match 7-6, showing the wrestling world that he was ready to compete on the international stage.

Three-time World Champ

Two years later, in 1978, Kemp won his first gold medal at the world freestyle championships. At the age of 21 years, 8 months, he became the youngest American wrestler to win a World or Olympic gold medal.

He later became the first American to win three World gold medals when he repeated as champion in 1979 and 1982. Lee also won a World bronze medal in 1983.

Boycott Keeps Kemp from Olympic Gold

In 1980, Kemp looked poised to make a run at an Olympic gold when he won the trials tournament and was set to head to Moscow.

However, he was unable to compete when the United States announced they would not send an Olympic team to Russia due to the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan.

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#1 David Taylor

In 2023, David Taylor added a third World championship to his resume to go along with his Olympic gold and World silver, becoming the most decorated wrestler in Ohio history.

Four-time State Champ

Taylor busted onto the high school wrestling scene as a 90-pound freshman with the technique of a college senior.

He went onto win four state titles and was the nation’s number 1 recruit coming out of high school.

Cael’s Protege

Although he originally committed to wrestle at Iowa State, Taylor followed coach Cael Sanderson to Penn State and became the new face of a rising program.

Many thought he would follow in his coach’s footsteps and go undefeated in college after he dispatched all competitors with relative ease during his freshman regular season.

However, Taylor’s phenomenal season came to an end when he was pinned by former teammate Bubba Jenkins in the national finals.

In his sophomore campaign, David went undefeated, won his first national title and the Hodge trophy – given to the nation’s top collegiate wrestler.

Kyle Dake

However, Taylor met his archnemesis (now good friend) during his junior season.

Three-time NCAA champion, Kyle Dake, decided to bump up a weight while going for his fourth title. This set up one of the most anticipated matchups in college wrestling history.

Although he came close in multiple matches, Taylor never could figure Dake out. He fell to Dake in the national finals and finished as national runner-up.

As a senior, Taylor put together another undefeated season and won a second NCAA title and Hodge trophy.

World Success

In 2018, Taylor won his first World title over Fatih Edin of Turkey. He followed that up with a 2020 Olympic gold medal when he defeated reigning Olympic and World Champion Hassan Yazdani in the finals.

Yazdani exacted revenge in the 2021 World Championship finals. However, the rivalry continued with Taylor coming out on top of Yazdani in 2022 and 2023 to win his third and fourth Olympic/World gold.

Oklahoma State

In 2024, David Taylor took over as the head wrestling coach at Oklahoma State, replacing legendary coach John Smith.

A few months after taking over the Cowboys, Taylor competed in his final World Championships where he capped off his outstanding wrestling career with a World bronze medal at 92kg.

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You may also be interested in:

Ohio Wrestling Firsts

Ohio Wrestling Greats

Top 10 Ohio Four-Time State Champions

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Top 25 Ranked

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tags: best wrestlers from Ohio all-time, Ohio’s best wrestlers in history, greatest wrestlers in Ohio wrestling history