the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's an ...

Carl Adams (born 1950) is an American retired

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 sport ...

, coach, businessman, and inventor.

Early life

Adams grew up in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

attending Brentwood Ross High School. His senior year he wrestled under legendary coach Joe Campo at 157 lbs and never lost a dual meet en route to winning the State Championship at his weight class.

Wrestling career

Following his standout prep career, Adams continued his wrestling at Iowa State. As a freshman he wrestled at the 152 lbs weight class where he compiled a 9–2–1 dual mark and finished fifth at the NCAA Championship. That same season, the Cyclones took home the team title that year for the first time since 1965. Adams won his only

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

championship in 1970, but was unable to place in the top eight at nationals as the Cyclones won back-to-back NCAA team titles. However, Adams was able to master his weight class in his final two seasons. In 1971, Adams was 9–2–1 in duals and won his first NCAA title by beating

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

's Mike Jones 18–5 in the championship match. Adams did not lose a dual match in his senior season (16–0–1) and capped off his second consecutive individual national title with a 7–4 decision against Stan Dziedzic from Slippery Rock. He was one of three Cyclone individual national titlists in 1972 (

Ben Peterson Benjamin Lee "Ben" Peterson (born June 27, 1950) is a retired American freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal, respectively. As a college wrestler, Peterson was a two-time NCAA champion at ...

, Chris Taylor), as the Cyclones were national champions for the third time in Adams' four seasons with the Cyclones. Adams concluded his collegiate career with a dual record of 45–4–4. After ending his ISU career continued to excel on the mat at the international level. Adams won the AAU 163-pound national championship in 1973 and 1975 and placed fifth in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

World Team Championship held in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. He won a silver medal at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. In 2019, Adams was inducted into 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 ...

as a Distinguished Member.

Coaching

After spending time on the

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

circuit, he began to coach. He started as an assistant in 1973 at his alma mater, Iowa State, and then his first head coaching job was at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

; after that program was cut as a result of

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

, he took over the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

program where was the head coach from 1981 until the program's end in 2014. After the wrestling program was dropped, Adams transitioned into an administrative role titled Coordinator of Student-Athlete Services which he still holds today. Additionally, he runs the Carl Adams World Class Wrestling Camp, invented several wrestling takedown machines, and has published books and videos about the sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Carl American male sport wrestlers American wrestling coaches 1950 births Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York) alumni Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Living people Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games