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Penn State Wrestling: Ranking all 10 NCAA Championship Teams

By Chris Snyder

Mar 19, 2022; Detroit, MI, USA; Penn State wrestler Aaron Brooks helps hold up the trophy after the team takes first place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Cesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2022; Detroit, MI, USA; Penn State wrestler Aaron Brooks helps hold up the trophy after the team takes first place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Cesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Wrestling
David Taylor of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

No. 9 – 1953

Dual Record: 9-0

Conference Champions: 2
130 Dick Lemyre
137 Jerry Maurey

All-Americans: 5
130 Dick Lemyre
137 Jerry Maurey
147 Don Frey
167 Joe Lemyre
191 Hud Samson

NCAA Champions: 1
191 Hud Samson

NCAA Final Team Standings
1. Penn State 21
2. Oklahoma 15
3. Cornell 13

Between 1949 and 1952, Penn State had a bit of a renaissance in terms of wrestling.

The 1949-1950 team finished the year going 7-1 in dual meets and had its highest conference finish in seven years and its highest NCAA finish in four years.

Then the 1950-1951 team kept the train rolling by putting up a perfect 8-0 dual record, took home the Nittany Lions’ first conference title since 1942, and finished third in the 1951 NCAA Championships.

Momentum was building as Penn State Wrestling had two talented underclassman grapplers in Don Frey and Joe Lemyre. As sophomores the two had a combined 25-5 record and Frey finished second in the NCAAs at 147.

In the 1951-1952 season, the Nittany Lions once again went undefeated (9-0) and took home their second straight conference title. However, due to the 1952 NCAA Championships being held at Colorado State University, which at the time was the furthest west the NCAA’s had ever been held, the Penn State administration decided to only send wrestlers who had won Eastern titles.

Keep in mind that travel expenses were very much a consideration in collegiate sports 70 years ago.

So instead of the entire wrestling team going, only Bob Homan, Dick Lemyre, and Joe Lemyre were allowed to make the trip. And even with just three participants the Nittany Lions still finished in fifth place in the 1952 NCAAs.

You could tell things were going to click in the 1952-1953 season. Don Frey, Dick Lemyre, Joe Lemyre, Jerry Maurey, and Hud Samson were all returning for the Nittany Lions and they had a very experienced team.

Oh, it also didn’t hurt that the 1953 NCAA Championships were going to be held in Rec Hall.

The 1952-1953 bulldozed their way through the regular season by going 9-0, and for the third year in a row were crowned conference champions. The only thing left to do was *cue Lou Brown* “Win the whole &%$#ing thing”.

Which is exactly what they did. The 1953 Penn State team qualified a whooping nine grapplers for the NCAA Championships with five of them finishing in the top 3 and being honored as All-Americans.

Don Frey, Joe Lemyre, and Jerry Maruey ended up finishing in third place in their respective weight classes. Dick Lemyre lost in the finals to finish second and Hud Samson won his one and only NCAA title after dropping down from “unlimited” to 191 prior to the 1953 NCAAs.

All of these top finishes resulted in Penn State finally winning the NCAA title. And they did so in impressive fashion with the largest margin of victory in four years.

The run from 1949 to 1953 was possibly the beginning of a wrestling dynasty in Happy Valley. And if I could go back in time to 1953 and tell the people it would take 58 more years for Penn State to win their second NCAA title?

They would think I was crazy.

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