William H. Koll (August 12, 1923 – September 27, 2003) was an American

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and coach.

Biography

Born in

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

in 1923, Koll was a wrestler at Iowa State Teachers College (now the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and gr ...

) and later became a wrestling coach, most notably at his alma mater and for the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team. As a wrestler, Koll was undefeated (72–0) and won three straight

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

(1946–1948). He was twice voted most outstanding wrestler at the national tournament, the first wrestler to achieve this honor. Koll's college career was interrupted by World War II, during which he participated in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

and earned a Bronze Star. Koll competed for the U.S. at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London and placed fifth in the freestyle competition. As a professor of Health and Physical Education and coach, Koll led Penn State for 14 seasons (1965–1979), which included unbeaten dual meet campaigns in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974. Koll is a member of the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

and the father of Rob Koll, the head wrestling coach at Stanford University. Koll died in 2003 in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koll, Bill 1923 births 2003 deaths American male sport wrestlers Northern Iowa Panthers football coaches Northern Iowa Panthers wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the United States Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling coaches Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics United States Army personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Fort Dodge, Iowa

Biography

See also

References