*** Official Youth, High School, College and International Wrestling Thread ***

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Here is one I posted recently on Randy Couture… fun stuff like this is what I would encourage if anyone out there is interested!



CELEBRITIES WHO WRESTLED: Randy Couture; Lynwood HS ‘81/US Army/Oklahoma State

Growing up in Lynwood, WA, Randy Couture’s mother, Sharan Couture had two rules that she stuck to. 1.) She didn’t want Randy hanging out with his friends at a place called Alderwood Mall, for the loitering that took place there had a reputation for making consistently frequent transitions to mischief. And 2.) No boxing. Randy had been caught sneaking his way to a place in town called Lynnwood Elks Club, which had a successful youth boxing program at the time. This is pretty funny in retrospect, given the hefty amount of boxing that Randy did over the course of his life while training in MMA, in which he is now considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in history. Decades later, Randy “The Natural” Couture would become a 3X UFC HWT Champion, a 2X UFC Light HWT Champion and an interim UFC Light HWT Champion, making him a 6X UFC Champion. The skills he learned in the art of boxing played a role in these accomplishments… So would something else…

Now, while Randy’s mother said she didn’t want her son boxing, she didn’t mention anything about wrestling. Therefore when Randy’s PE teacher and wrestling coach at Alderwood Junior High School, John Casebeer, spread his passion for the sport of wrestling to him, Randy was all in. Hooked for life, in fact… Wrestling was and is a major part of his life. He has competed in it, he has coached it, he has promoted it, etc. And he accomplished some incredible feats in it.

Randy Couture went to Lynnwood High School, where he won a state wrestling championship at 168 pounds as a senior in 1981. After HS, he briefly attended Washington State University, but left to spend six years in the Army, during which he trained and competed with the All-Army wrestling team. It’s been mentioned that part of his reasoning for doing this was because he was never offered a wrestling scholarship from any college… which would end up being their loss. Randy served six years in the Army, attaining the rank of sergeant in the 101st Airborne. He served from 1982-1988 and while there he wrestled and boxed a bit. While in the Army, Randy competed in Greco-Roman wrestling despite not ever competing in it before. Word is, there was a clerical error on his application for the freestyle team which led to him being sent to the Greco-Roman tryouts. Apparently he would have to wait another year to join the Army Freestyle squad, in which Randy didn’t want to wait that long, so he tried out for Greco and made the team despite having little experience. Couture married young and actually spent his first couple of years in the Army as an air traffic controller. However, when the Army found out he could wrestle, his final four years of service were spent via winning the All-Army championships and an Inter-Service title. Randy initially planned on only being enlisted in the Army for 4 years, but he got so deep into Greco-Roman wrestling that he decided to stay an additional 2 years to try to make the Olympic team in 1988, in which he earned the alternate spot for the team.

After Randy’s service in the Army, he decided to enroll at Oklahoma State, where he joined one of the nation’s most historically good wrestling programs of all time. He was a 25 year old Freshman when he first joined the squad. And it didn’t take long for him to make a statement as to how much potential he had to become the major contributor to the team that he ultimately became… he started out with a nice record of 14-2 and placed 3rd at the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational in that first year. After he got off to this red-hot start, his coach at OSU, Joe Seay made the following statement:

COACH JOE SEAY: “Randy is one of the most pleasant surprises I've had in my coaching career. It's like the other coaches and I were saying the other day, we're seelng day-to-day improvement. He's just getting better each time he walks on the mat. And his attitude about It, he's such a gentleman and works hard.”

Randy expressed having some difficulty at first adjusting from the exclusively upper-body style of Greco-Roman wrestling to folkstyle wrestling, primarily when in the bottom position. Bottom was his weak position for a duration there, but he eventually adapted to become one of the best all-around NCAA wrestlers in the nation. When it was over for Randy at Oklahoma State, he was a three-time NCAA All-American and 2X NCAA finalist, finishing sixth in 1990 and second in 1991 and 1992 while helping the Cowboys to the team title in 1990 and runner-up finishes in 1991 and 1992.

Randy Couture was also accomplished in the international scene, competing in Greco-Roman wrestling. He wrestled at the World Championships in Greco-Roman in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997 and was an Olympic team alternate in 1988, 1992 and 1996. He was also a semifinalist at the Olympic Trials in 2000.

Following his collegiate career at Oklahoma State, Randy would go on to become an Assistant Coach at Oregan State. He did this until 1996. The next year was when he began his MMA/UFC career, which he became famous for. As mentioned, Randy was a six-time UFC world champion and was the only competitor to hold titles in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. Couture became the fourth fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted into the Oklahoma State College of Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2018, Randy was honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame by being named as the organization's Outstanding American for 2018. The NWHOF also awarded him the George Tragos Award in 2014.

Randy was so popular while fighting in the UFC, that he became an actor. Randy has appeared in the hit films The Expendables, The Expendables 2 and The Expendables 3, as well as a variety of TV shows/movies. Randy was married multiple times and has 3 children.

Randy Couture is one of only 2 over the age of 40 to have won a UFC championship fight. He did it 4 times. Randy is also the only UFC fighter to win a championship after becoming a Hall-of-Famer and is the oldest champion in MMA history with his title victory after defeating over Tim Sylvia at age 43. For me, as a 39 year old guy with only has 2 more months to spend in my 30’s, these achievements give me hope that maybe I won’t be doomed to a life of factory work. Thanks for that, Randy!

RANDY COUTURE: “I don't really feel old because I can still compete with any of the younger guys, and probably have an edge in maturity and experience. I'm just going to compete as long as I can compete, and I believe that probably will be when I'm well over 30.”

-Randy Couture (in 1989-1990 during his first season at Oklahoma State)

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