J. RICHARD WILSON
J. Richard (Dick) Wilson graduated from Trinity High School in 1952 and won the WPIAL 112-pound championship in his senior year, losing in the PIAA flnals.
Wilson won three Mid-America Conference championships at Toledo University.
He also won four 4-I tournament and three Wilkes Tournament titles and finished second three times in the NCAA tournament. In 1959, he lost 5-0 in overtime after a 3-3 regulation draw and in 1960, he was defeated by Lock Haven University’s Gray Simons on a referees decision. He lost to Simons again in 1961 by a 7-3 score.
He was even more successful in international competition, being a six-time National AAU champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman competition. He was a member of the 1961 and 1962 World Games freestyle and Greco-Roman teams and placed fifth in both classes.
Wilson is one of only five athletes to be a member of United States Olympic teams in 1956, 1960 and 1964, serving as captain of the wrestling team in 1960 and 1964. He was head wrestling coach at Toledo University from 1967 until 1974 with an overall 48-34-3 record. He coached one MAC championship team.
Wilson, a resident of Toledo, was All-Army wrestling champion in 1956 and also won regional Olympic trials in three-meter springboard diving at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth, NJ.