Douglas Blubaugh

{{Short description|American wrestler and coach (1934–2011)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Douglas Blubaugh | fullname = Douglas Morlan Blubaugh | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date |1934|12|31}} | birth_place = Ponca City, Oklahoma, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age |2011|5|16|1934|12|31}} | death_place = Tonkawa, Oklahoma, U.S. | residence = | spouse = | sport = Wrestling | event = Freestyle and Folkstyle | collegeteam = Oklahoma A&M | team = USA | country = United States | coach = Myron Roderick | club = U.S. Army | worlds = | nationals = | headercolor = | show-medals = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's freestyle wrestling}} {{MedalCountry | {{U.S.}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} center|80px {{MedalGold | 1960 Rome | 73 kg}} {{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}} {{MedalGold | 1959 Chicago | 78 kg}} {{MedalSport | Collegiate Wrestling}} {{MedalCountry|Oklahoma A&M}} {{MedalCompetition|NCAA Championships}} {{MedalGold|1957 Pittsburgh|157 lb}} {{MedalSilver|1956 Stillwater|157 lb}} {{MedalBronze|1955 Ithaca|147 lb}} }}

'''Douglas Morlan Blubaugh''' (December 31, 1934 – May 16, 2011) was an American wrestler and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, where he became the freestyle Olympic Gold Medalist at welterweight, defeating the legendary 1956 Olympic Champion and 3-time World Champion Iranian Wrestler Emam-Ali Habibi.<ref name=obit/>

Blubaugh, born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, was an AAU Champion and an NCAA Champion in 1957 at Oklahoma State University. In 1959 he won another AAU Championship, winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award. Also in 1959 Blubaugh won a Pan-American Games Gold Medal before he made the 1960 Olympic team. While a student at OSU, Blubaugh was initiated as a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity; in January 2011, he was inducted into the {{lang|grc|ΤΚΕ}} Oklahoma Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 27, 2011 |title=Helen Ford Wallace — Parties, Etc. — March 27th |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/nation-world/2011/03/27/helen-ford-wallace-parties-etc-march-27th/61175391007/ |newspaper=The Oklahoman |access-date=October 15, 2022}}</ref> In 1979, Blubaugh was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.<ref>[https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/32 Doug Blubaugh]. ''National Wrestling Hall of Fame''. Retrieved September 17, 2022.</ref>

For his efforts in Rome, Blubaugh was named the World's Outstanding Wrestler in 1960.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/oklahoman/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=151155423#sthash.VKBAkRQs.dpbs|title = Douglas Blubaugh Obituary (2011) Oklahoman| website=Legacy.com }}</ref> Blubaugh later became wrestling coach at Indiana University.<ref name=obit/>

He resided in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and continued to be an ambassador for the sport of wrestling until his death in a traffic accident on May 16, 2011.<ref name=obit>{{cite web |url=http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=23600 |title=FLASH: Olympic Champion Doug Blubaugh passes away at 76 |publisher=USA Wrestling |first=Kyle |last=Klingman |work=themat.com |date=May 17, 2011 |accessdate=May 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523040653/http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=23600 |archive-date=May 23, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was struck on his motorcycle by a pickup truck, which ran a stop sign.<ref>[http://newsok.com/article/5559704 "Doug Blubaugh was tougher than he was good," NewsOK, Barry Tramel, 10 August 2017]</ref> He was 76.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{sports links}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blubaugh, Douglas}} Category:1934 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:American male sport wrestlers Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Category:Sportspeople from Ponca City, Oklahoma Category:Sportspeople from Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers Category:Indiana University faculty Category:Road incident deaths in Oklahoma Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths Category:People from Tonkawa, Oklahoma Category:Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Category:Wrestlers at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Ponca City High School alumni Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:20th-century American sportsmen