Even though I never saw a wrestling match until I attended Oklahoma State in 1960 I was born in Blackwell, Oklahoma (never lived there) as my uncle was a long time physician in Blackwell and brought me into this world. Perry is definitely the most successful small town in Oklahoma known for its wrestling but Blackwell 30 miles to the north is not shabby in this regard. There were at least 5 wrestlers from Blackwell during my 1960-64 stay in Stillwater. My favorite wrestler during my 4 years at Oklahoma State was Ronnie Clinton who was NCAA champion in 1962 at 167 pounds. He basically won his championship one handed as a plumbing chore caused severe damage to one of his hands. Ronnie was the original "Mr.Fast-twitch" and was almost impossible to ride as he was up and out as soon as the ref blew the whistle. Ronnie also placed 3rd in 1960 at 167 and 3rd in 1961 at 191 pounds. Ted Ellis was heavyweight champion in 1960 and was a 3x NCAA finalist. In 1959 he pinned his way to the finals where he met Bob Marella of Ithaca College who weight over 300 pounds and they battled to a 1-1 tie and then he outscored Marella 2-0 in overtime for the title. Bob Marella went on to a pro career where he went by the name of "Gorilla Monsoon". Jack Brisco wrestled during my time at Oklahoma State and he was a 2X National champion at 191 pounds. His younger brother Gerald wrestled one year at Oklahoma State but left school the following year due to hepatitis and injury and later they both wrestled pro for several years. Bill McDaniel also wrestled for Oklahoma State while I was there at 191#. He went into Medical school upon graduation and served as a naval physician eventually became an Admiral in the Navy. Three other wrestlers from Blackwell worth noting were Charles "Chuck" Hetrick who was a national champion in 1949 at 128 pounds. Jim Gregson was a National champion in 1949 at 175# and then after a
lengthy hiatus he placed 2nd at 191 pounds in 1956. I believe the hiatus was caused partly by the Korean war.
Finally, Ted Pierce from E. Blackwell st. in Blackwell, Oklahoma was a Big 8 champion and placed 4th at the 1958 NCAA his senior year at OSU. Ted went on to coach at Ponca City and was tragically killed in a car/truck accident in 1968 while he was driving to the Geary Tournament with some of his wrestlers. He was 29 at the time. The reason I know he grew up on E. Blackwell St. is because he was living a few
doors west of my uncle "Doc" Kinsinger and he was about the age of my older cousin who set me up to wrestle him in the neighborhood when I visited. That was my only wrestling match of my career and I recall it lasted about 10 seconds (Mercifully).
