Alvin Roy "Allie" Morrison (June 29, 1904 – April 18, 1966) 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 ...

who won the freestyle featherweight competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Morrison was the only American wrestler to capture a gold medal at the 1928 Olympic Games.

Wrestling career

As a high school sophomore, Morrison wrestled at the U.S. Olympic trials, but lost to the eventual champion. It was the only defeat of Morrison's wrestling career. Morrison wrestled collegiately at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. He won three consecutive U.S. AAU National Wrestling Championships and was the 1928 Big Ten champion. He never lost a match as a member of the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

. At the 1928 Olympic Games, Morrison won the gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the featherweight division. Morrison became the first native Iowan to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport. He was forced to retire in 1929 due to broken vertebra and later coached

wrestling 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 ...

and football. Morrison has been 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, the University of Illinois Hall of Fame, and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame.Allie Roy Morrison - Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame
Retrieved July 31, 2022.

Personal life

Morrison was born to Ethan Allen Morrison, a railroad worker, and Sarah Jean Morrison. At 5 feet 5 inches, he was shorter than his father. In 1927 Morrison married Ora Bass, a woman from his hometown, they had one daughter, Bessie Jane Morrison Svehla, born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1931. His wife died in 1960.Mark Palmer (April 17, 2012
Allie Morrison: Golden boy of 1928 Olympics
intermatwrestle.com On March 2, 1929, Morrison broke some of the vertebrae in his neck during a wrestling match. Fearing paralysis, doctors forced him to retire from wrestling. Next year Morrison graduated from the

with a degree in English and physical education and began coaching wrestling and football. His career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, during which he served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

as a

petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...

. Morrison retired after 1952 and later would run a tavern.

References

External links

* 1904 births 1966 deaths Wrestlers at the 1928 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Sportspeople from Marshalltown, Iowa Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Illinois Fighting Illini wrestlers 20th-century American people {{US-Olympic-medalist-stub