BILL HARLOW is one of America’s legendary amateur wrestlers. Bill was born in Boston, raised in Florida, started wrestling in a private school (St. Andrew’s) in Tennessee, pushed on to a fabulous mat career at Oklahoma State , then developed into one of the best freestyle wrestlers in the World. Mr. Harlow was a two-time Big 8 champion, a three-time NCAA finalist (1964, 1965 and 1966), won the NCAA title at 191 pounds in 1966), was a member of two Oklahoma State NCAA championship teams (1964 and 1966), and won the silver medal at 198 pounds in the 1970 World Freestyle Championships at Edmonton, Canada.
Mr. Harlow kindly agreed to be interviewed in August of 2009, for WrestlingReport.com, and the Question & Answer interview was conducted by email. Here we go.
QUESTION #1 – You were born in Boston, spent some time in wrestling-crazy Pennsylvania, then moved to Florida. Please share with us some of your boyhood experiences and activities. Did you have helpful parents? What were you like as a kid?
BILL HARLOW Answer #1 - I was born in Boston in 1943 and thought I lived a pretty normal life as a kid. When we moved to Florida I was about 10 years old and didn’t really get involved in any sports as a kid other than riding bikes, swimming, and Little League baseball when I was 12. After that all of my sports activities revolved around St. Andrews School in Tennessee. My parents gave me the option of staying home in De Land, Florida or going to a private school in Tennessee. I believe they thought the schools in Florida were not challenging enough. Anyway that decision to go to St. Andrews totally changed the direction of my life.
That choice my parents gave to me was very unselfish of them because they would not see me except during Christmas break and the summer for the next five years. That is an example of them wanting the best opportunities for their kids. They were both very supportive and caring. Dad was especially interested in athletics and 100% backed anything I took up in sports. He had a great interest in wrestling and would occasionally try to teach me moves but not with any intensity. The one thing he did do was teach me to never go to my back--- ever. So, when I did begin wrestling in the 8th grade at St. Andrews not going to my back was not something I had to be taught.
As a kid I was pretty laid back regarding successes that I had in sports. I knew that things in athletics came pretty easy to me even in the 8th grade. To me wrestling was the easiest and I liked the one-on-one challenge.
QUESTION #2 – What got you into wrestling, who was your high school coach, what was your multi-sport high school career like?
BILL HARLOW Answer #2 - My high school sports career began in the 8th grade. Back in the day, 1957-58, Tennessee allowed 8th graders to participate if they were capable. So, for the next 5 years I wrestled and lost 1 match in high school. I also participated in football, baseball, and track. I am not sure what the thought was when I chose to go out for wrestling. I knew that Dad liked wrestling but he never made those sports choices for me. I made the right choice though and got to know the coach, Ken Speegle pretty well. Between Coach Speegle and Betty (his wife) I had two real good role models who acted as surrogate parents while I was at St Andrew’s. You couldn’t find two better people anywhere. Speedy (That’s what everyone called Coach Speegle) was probably more nervous than us kids who were wrestling.
I remember Coach Speegle would always call us “son,” or “Young Man” if we did good. If someone messed up Speedy would never get loud or berate them. I think Speedy took each problem as a learning situation because after he said his piece the issue was mute and the transgressor was back in the fold as long as it never happened again. He was the perfect coach for me and he had the attention of all the other kids on the team. Speedy had the ability to see the individual needs in the kids and deal with their needs at that personal level. Wrestling wasn’t the only sport that I had success at in high school. I had several offers in football and if Oklahoma State had not offered me the wrestling scholarship I probably would have gone to Auburn to play football and also wrestle.
QUESTION #3 – Please tell us about your college wrestling career. What was it like being a rookie in the wrestling room at powerful Oklahoma State? What was it like in 1964 helping the Cowboys win the NCAA title at Cornell? What was head coach Myron Roderick like as a coach and person?
BILL HARLOW Answer #3 - When I was a freshman at Oklahoma State we were not eligible to compete at the varsity level. The group that was not eligible was a fantastic bunch of guys. Very tough and talented. Being a rookie was ok by me as I had so much to learn. I look at that time as me being a human sponge trying to learn as much as possible before the next wrestling season. I was pretty far behind the others in terms of skills. The technique was like nothing I had seen before and I wanted it all. I was a sort of fanatic trying to learn the skill and adapt it to the matches we had in the room. There was so much that it took me two years to get most of it learned so that it could be used in matches with a high degree of success.
Prior to my junior year I relied on ability, speed and a hate to lose attitude. The first day I went into the varsity room I got there about 45 minutes early. The room had a pull up bar around the corner and someone just kept doing pull ups. Eventually the person stopped and began doing a ridiculous number of pushups. I was just standing there taking in the atmosphere of being in the room when the person said “Hey, are you a wrestler?” I remember thinking he can’t be talking to me. He was about 6’3” tall and 220 pounds of 7% body fat. His name was Joe James the Cowboy heavyweight. Joe begins walking towards me and I nod my head indicating that I was a wrestler. I was thinking, “Oh Jeeze, he is going to kill me”.
Joe just wanted someone to drill with. He was incredibly patient with me and had a phenomenal grasp of wrestling technique. He was the best teacher I ever had. I was at practice early for the rest of the year. Joe was one of the reasons I progressed so fast. Other guys on the team were great in sharing the small reason why the move would work. Jack Brisco, Bill McDaniels. Tadaaki Hatta, Jojiriro Uetake (Now Obatu). There were many others.
Myron Roderick was a great coach. There was a style that Coach Roderick taught that minimized an opponent’s opportunities to win. It made an average wrestler very difficult to beat and is one of the reasons he was so successful as a coach. When I watch college kids wrestle today I am impressed with their skill level but astonished with the mistakes they make. In wrestling it is the small thing that makes the big difference. When I was competing I made it a habit to watch the great ones in order to understand what they were doing differently that gave their technique a much higher percentage of success. There were always small, subtle differences. I find that I still watch matches looking for those small reasons that make big difference.
Both NCAA team championships 1964,1966 were great experiences. Everyone had to do their part for the pieces to fall together. I was just a part of the team that had a responsibility to achieve the potential of winning. Winning was expected at OSU and winning National championships was part of the tradition both individually and collectively as a team. I remember when I took second in the 1964 Nationals as a sophomore that the only relief I felt was that the team won regardless my second place finish behind Dean Lahr from Colorado at 177.
Here is an example of the attitude we all had back in the day while wrestling for OSU. Coach called a meeting after the 1964 season and he began to hand out All-American certificates. All the placers got a certificate. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why there was more than one All-American. The person who won was the All-American not the others. On the way out the door there was a garbage can in which I promptly deposited my certificate. Guess what? There were several others in the garbage before mine. Today the emphasis is how many times did you All-American? Who cares? How many times did you win it all?
I think the best team we had was in 1965. A sure fire NCAA Champion for OSU got hit pretty hard in his temple while doing an arm-drag into a double leg. Bobby Douglas had a serious concussion about half way through the match but finished with a win regardless that he didn’t know where he was. He was not permitted to continue in the tournament and the person who won was from Iowa State who Bobby defeated by about 10 points in the Big Eight finals. We lost the team title by one point to Iowa State that year. Bobby was (is) a good friend, a great wrestler, and later a great coach.
QUESTION #4 – Do you still keep in touch with Oklahoma State wrestling? Any advice for head coach John Smith?
BILL HARLOW Answer #4 - I occasionally go to matches and of course I always have an opinion regarding what I see happening technically but absolutely would not presume to offer advice to John Smith unless specifically asked. Coach Smith has good assistant coaches and I see his kids making adjustments during the season to correct mistakes, so I know he is very aware of what is happening on the mat and he makes the corrections. Those kids that adjust and progress (not stay the same) will have success. If you stay the same during the wrestling season others will pass you by and they will win when it counts the most. I guess the best way to say it is that you must evolve constantly to stay ahead of everyone else.
QUESTION #5 – Bill, thank you for representing the USA so well in international competition. Would you please tell us how you made the transition from folkstyle to freestyle, and the journey to your Silver Medal at the 1970 World Freestyle Championships in Edmonton, Canada?
BILL HARLOW Answer #5 - The transition from collegiate wrestling to freestyle was very easy on the feet. My training and technique on the feet was so good at OSU that the only changes were in the ties and set-ups. Bill Farrell worked with me in the top and bottom position prior to the World Championships, which I greatly appreciated. I would later learn how to use the legs and felt very comfortable when on top in freestyle.
The journey to the Worlds simply means you have to beat some pretty tough guys to make the team. The toughest guy at the camp (we had to wrestle off) was Wayne Bauchman from Oklahoma U. They do not come any tougher than him. We always had close matches. I had a slight edge in freestyle and he would always win in Greco. After a couple of draws I finally got a takedown. I think it was a single snatch to a pipe.
Wayne hated to lose (me too) but was always willing to shake after the match. This was also the camp that Bobby Douglas had a terrific match with Dan Gable and finally edged him at the last minute to make the team. Bobby comes off the mat saying I never want to have to wrestle him (Dan) again. Also of note, one of the guys who was at the World camp in Wisconsin was Ben Peterson who was still very young, but Ferrell said he (Ben) will be good someday. Ferrell was right.
QUESTION #6 – In your high school, college, and freestyle career, who were some of your toughest opponents?
BILL HARLOW Answer #6 - College toughest opponents: Dean Lahr- Colorado, Tom Peckham-Iowa State, Don Buzzard- Iowa State, Charlie Tribble- Arizona State, Luke Sharp OU heavyweight. There were others but these quickly came to mind. In freestyle: Wayne Bauchman, Russ Camilari, Greg Strobel, Ben Peterson, Tom Peckham, Genadi Strachof (Russia), Willie Williams, Jim Duschen. Again there were others but these quickly came to mind. In High school probably the toughest match I had was against Roger Oleson from Hill HS in the Lehigh Prep Tournament. Beating Roger (by one point) was probably the reason I went to OSU. He was already guaranteed a scholarship to OSU so they figured they might as well grab me along with him.
QUESTION #7 – Please tell us a bit about your life career (educator?), places you worked/taught, and perhaps how the discipline of amateur wrestling helped you in your career and life?
BILL HARLOW Answer #7 - After college, my wife and I moved to Detroit and I wrestled for the Detroit Wrestling Club along with Bobby Douglas, Freddy Lett, and Bob Buzzard (Don’s older brother). We all won AAU National Freestyle titles that year in Lincoln, Nebraska. After that year we moved to the Chicago area and I wrestled for the Mayor Daley Wrestling team which was coached by Terry McCann. We won quite a few National Freestyle titles during my 8 years in the Chicago area.
I taught and coached at Carmel HS in Mundelein and Prospect HS in Mt. Prospect, Illinois for the next eight years. After graduate school in Minnesota my wife, daughter, and I moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma where I coached and taught for 10 years, and then went into administration for the next 17 years in Oklahoma and Alaska. I am currently teaching and coaching in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
I believe that after the discipline of athletics, under good coaches, that it changes your perspective and approach to many challenges in life. I felt prepared and capable of doing anything no matter the challenge. I believe this attitude can be traced to the discipline required for success in any sport activity.
QUESTION #8 – Any situations on the mat where an opponent underestimated you?
BILL HARLOW Answer #8 - This probably happened early in my wrestling career as I was not “ripped” especially in the 8th grade. I was wrestling much older guys (some seniors) who probably felt I was cannon fodder for their stats. I remember one match early in my eighth grade year against a senior that as I removed my shirt before getting on the mat he began to laugh while looking in my direction.
I am sure I was not very intimidating in appearance as a eighth grader wrestling 100 pounds. I remember Speedy (Coach) being nervous for me before this match because his comment was, “ This guy is pretty tough, so be careful and stay tough.” The match was very fast paced (two cats in a can ) until he shot with an arm slightly elevated. It was over quickly and Speedy was elated.
Early in college as a sophomore no one knew who I was because I came from the east. I am not sure anyone didn’t take me seriously though because I was wrestling for OSU.
QUESTION #9 – Any advice for the young pre-high school grapplers?
BILL HARLOW Answer #9 - Only to keep learning and drill hard. Having a good workout partner helps a lot. When you stop learning and adapting you will stagnate and others will pass you by or make it tougher to beat them. Young kids want to just go in and wrestle. The key is learning to wrestle so that moves just naturally happen in the course of a match and you then think, “Wow, did I just do that?” Drill hard, train hard, and listen to your coach.
WrestlingReport’s final comment - Thank you very much Mr. Harlow. We appreciate your taking the time to be interviewed and share your wrestling and life stories with the amateur wrestling community!