Jack Francis "Blackjack" Vanbebber (July 27, 1907 – April 13, 1986) 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

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist at the 1932 Olympic Games in

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 wrestli ...

. Vanbebber was born and raised in Perry, Oklahoma. He attended and wrestled at Oklahoma A&M University and was a three-time NCAA national champion. He was coached by Edward C. Gallagher. He competed at the 1932 Olympic Games in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, where he received a gold medal in the freestyle welterweight division."1932 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles, United States – Wrestling"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on April 28, 2008) He was severely injured in a wagon accident as a child, but his attitude and perseverance carried him through his injuries. Before his death, he was named one of the ten greatest amateur athletes in the western hemisphere for the first half of the 20th century. He once wrestled Frank Phillips (founder of Phillips 66) at his home in

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Ca ...

. In 1976, he was inducted into the inaugural class 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 ...

as a Distinguished Member.Jack VanBebber
''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved September 17, 2022.

References

1907 births 1986 deaths People from Perry, Oklahoma Wrestlers at the 1932 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics {{US-Olympic-medalist-stub

Further reading

References