– Throughout the season, IUHOOSIERS.com will take wrestling fans back in time into the rich past of IU Wrestling. Since the beginning of the program in 1909, the Hoosiers have produced one National Championship (1931), 10 NCAA Champions (Last: Joe Dubuque, 125 lb., 2005), 66 All-Americans (Last: Joe Dubuque (125 lb.), Brandon Becker (157 lb.), Pat DeGain (HWT)) and 52 Big Ten Champions (Last: Roger Chandler, ’97, 142 lb.). Throughout the season, a different year will be highlighted with a brief overview of that year’s events. This week, fans are taken back to 1952.
Indiana Wrestling, 1952
Head coach Charlie McDaniel and his Hoosiers were entering their seventh year under his leadership, as McDaniel took the reigns of the program in 1945. Filling the IU roster were Harry Arthur, Robert Carlin, James Ellis, William Garland, Kay Hutsell, Charles Pankow, Charles Thompson and Richard Wilder.
Indiana wrestling had one of its best years’, finishing tied for ninth in the NCAA Championship with six points, its highest finish in six years. The Hoosiers finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships with 18 points, only to continue their success at the national level with their best finish since 1946 when IU finished fourth.
During the regular season, Indiana notched a 6-2-1 overall record and a 6-1-1 Big Ten mark. The only loss during the Big Ten campaign came at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who narrowly took the victory with a 14-11 defeat. Indiana posted its lone tie of the year versus Iowa, 14-14, on Jan. 21. Incidentally, the Hoosiers would repeat the feat in, 1953, tying the Hawkeyes 12-12 for back-to-back ties against one of the sports toughest teams.
The Hoosiers handed to the Purdue Boilermakers the most lopsided victory of the season, a team they dismissed 21-6 on February 21, 1952, making it one of the highest margins of victory for the Hoosiers to date.
Individual accolades for the Hoosiers include Harry Arthur and Robert Carlin end earning All-American honors. The two ended an Indiana drought in the honor, finishing second and fourth, respectively, at the Championship.
Arthur (1950-52) claimed a pair of second-place finishes, first with a runner-up performance at Big Tens before notching a second-place mark in the 123-pound division at the NCAA Championships.
Carlin (1950,52) claimed a Big Ten Individual Championship at the 115-pound class en route to the Hoosiers’ fourth-place finish overall. Carlin ended the season on a high note placing fourth at the national level.
Wrestling Gear
