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John W. Smith was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame by the OSU Alumni Association on February 13, 2026.
John W. Smith graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education in 1988.
Over a six-year span that started while he was a student, Smith was the top wrestler in the world. As a competitor, he won six consecutive world championships from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Smith accepted the head coaching position at OSU in 1992 and led his alma mater to five NCAA team titles in 1994, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, coaching 33 NCAA individual champions.
At the conference level, the Cowboys brought 21 team conference tournament championships, two Big 12 regular season titles and 132 individual conference titles back to Stillwater. He saw his wrestlers earn All-American recognition 153 times with an average of 4.6 All-Americans per year. Additionally, Smith coached a pair of Hodge Trophy recipients in Alex Dieringer and Steve Mocco. Five of Smith’s wrestlers at OSU also made their way to the Olympic Games, including medalists Jamill Kelly and Coleman Scott.
Smith was recognized as the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2003 and was a 15-time selection as his conference’s coach of the year. In 1990, Smith was honored as the first wrestler to ever claim the James E. Sullivan Award as America’s Outstanding Amateur Athlete and became the first American ever chosen as the Master of Technique and Wrestler of the Year by the International Wrestling Federation (FILA). In 1992, Smith was presented with the Amateur Athletic Foundation World Trophy, becoming the first North American wrestler to earn the honor. A 2003 inductee into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, Smith was recognized as one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All Time at the 1996 Atlanta Games. That same year, Smith was inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Honor.
He also coached the U.S. at the Senior World Championships four times and was named the 2017 USA Wrestling Women’s Co-Coach of the Year. Smith also drew praise from the wrestling world for his work as an analyst with NBC for wrestling later in his career.
In 1995, Smith married the former Toni Donaldson. The couple has three sons – Joe, Sam and Levi – and two daughters – Isabelle and Cecilia. Smith is a life member of the OSU Alumni Association.
Learn more about the @okstate Hall of Fame at okstatealumni.org/hof.
#TheCodeCalls | @OSUAthletics | @okstate_ehs
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