Shelby Autrie Wilson (born July 14, 1937) is an American wrestler and Olympic champion. A native of Ponca City, Oklahoma, he was a two-time

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

state tournament runner-up while in high school, and was a two-time NCAA runner-up in

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Oklahoma A&M Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

(now Oklahoma State). At the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials, he finished in third place. During the Olympic Training Camp he successfully challenged the trials' second and first-place finishers to gain the starting position. He won Olympic Gold in Rome in the freestyle lightweight division. His Olympic gold medal was the first major tournament that Wilson had won. He later became a high school wrestling coach at

Owen Valley Community High School Owen Valley Community High School, also known as "OVHS", is a public high school located in Spencer, Indiana. History Built in 1971, OVHS is the result of a consolidation of several smaller schools located within Owen County. The three schools t ...

."1960 Summer Olympics – Rome, Italy – Wrestling"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on April 29, 2008) In 1982, Wilson was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.Shelby Wilson
''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved September 18, 2022.

References

1937 births Living people Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Sportspeople from Oklahoma People from Ponca City, Oklahoma Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Ponca City High School alumni {{US-Olympic-medalist-stub