The Daily Alaska empire., 1939-03-09
MAT ARTISTS
 OF COLLEGES
 TO COMPETE
Nations s Best WrestIers in Annual Tournament
 During Month
By AUSTIN BEALMEAR

By AUSTIN BEALMEAR
 SALTWATER, Okla, March g. The nations best collegiate wrest- lers will tug at each other in the an- nual N.C.A.A. tournament at Lan- caster. Pa, March 24-25. Those who harbor any ideas of dethroning the defending champion Oklahoma Ag- gies are flirting with disappomt- ment.
 Tournament officials, participants and fans have become accustomed to reserving first place in the team scoring for Coach Ed Gallagher's Cowboys from Oklahoma A. and M. College
 Nine times in the past II years the Oklahomans have romped off with the National Championship.
 Repeats Himself
 This is the best team l ever coached" said Gallagher, after his squad had won it's first four dual meets this year by one sided scores.
 But he said the same thing last year before his Aggies made off with both the National Collegiate and National AA.U. titles.
 In fact, he's said the same thing nearly every season since, he be- came coach of the Aggie Wrestlers 24 years ago.
 Seventeen of his 21 teams have been undefeated in dual competi- ton. tThere was no wrestling at the college in 1918 and 19l9D His all-time record is 125 dual meet victories, four ties and five de- feats.
 The secret of Gallagher's success is farm system" that would put the St Louis Cardinals to shame, and a scientific technique which the 54-year -old mentor figured out while studying engineering.
 Gallagher, who was a football and track star but never wrestled in his college days, injected the principle of leverage into the mat sport He made Oklahoma mat conscious,
 Draws on High Schools
 High schools took up wrestling. Today all the larger high schools in the state and many of the small CT ones offer wrestling as a major sport
 Wrestling coaches in at least 16 of the larger state high schools learned the sport under Gallagher. When their stars go to college most of them choose Oklahoma A. and M, taking with them all the tricks taught them by Gallagher's pupils, including a few extra ones picked up by those same pupils since de- parting from Gallagher's squad.
 Wrestling at Oklahoma A. and M. is major sport and more than pays it's own way. Crowds at dual meets never fall below 5000. When the Aggies humbled Indiana recently G. 900 persons turned out to set new all-time attendance record for an athletic contest of the college.
 Train Year Round
 It is a year. round sport. The school year is no sooner under way than Gallagher has his men doing road work. Three to five miles a day is required. Most of the boys run early in the morning, before classes
 Condition is of prime impor- tance,' Gallagher says. And his grapplers always are in the best of shape.
 Actual mat workouts come in November. and from then until the season opens Gallagher teaches them his countless holds and coun- ter-holds.
 After the NC.AA. meet at Frank lin and Marshall College, the Aggies expect to go after their seventh Ma tional A.AU. title at the San Fran cisco fair in April.
 Three members of this years Aggie squad hold national titles. Captain Stanley Henson of Tulsa won both the NC.A.A. and A.A.U titles at l55 pounds last year and was NCA.A. 145-pound champion as sophomore in 1887.
 Joe McDaniels, of Sulphur, Okla, wrestling in the new 12l-pound di- vision this season. won the 1l8- pound crown at both tournaments last year. Johnny Harrell of Ard more, Okla. is the defending A.A.U. champ at 191 pounds.