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Douglas Morlan Blubaugh © Grace Memorial Chapel 06-1999 Submitted by: Jo Aguirre
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Douglas Morlan Doug Blubaugh, resident of Tonkawa, and former resident of Ponca City, a well known Olympic Gold Medal wrestler, passed away Monday, May 16, 2011in Tonkawa as a result of a vehicle accident. He was 76 years of age.
Doug was born December 31, 1934 in rural Ponca City, the son of Edward Raymond Blubaugh and Audrey Marie Blubaugh. He was a 1953 graduate of Ponca City High School and a 1959 graduate of Oklahoma State University. He was named the 1957 Collegiate National Wrestling Champion and threetime AllAmerican at Oklahoma State University. While a student at OSU he was initiated as a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Doug was named to the TKE Hall of Fame, the worlds largest social fraternity.
A year before his Olympic conquest, Doug won a gold medal in the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, matching the 1955 achievement of his brother, Jack. They were the first brothers to capture Pan Am titles. He served his country in the United States Army and prepared for the 1960 Olympics by training at West Point.
Doug was a 1960 Olympic Gold Medal recipient at the freestyle weight class of 160.5 which was marked as one of the biggest American wins in international wrestling lore. He was named the Worlds Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1960. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1979. He was formerly an assistant wrestling coach at the University of Oklahoma, West Point and Michigan State before becoming head wrestling coach at Indiana University.
Throughout his competitive career he totaled more than 400 victories against just 17 defeats. He had earned worldwide recognition for his accomplishments as a wrestler, as a coach and as a clinician of the sport. He continued to teach at wrestling seminars around the country.
Doug always said he could do two things, coach wrestling and farm. He was always willing to help anybody that asked. He was someone who was great at working with our best athletes. He was probably at his best when he was working with the best. Dougs enjoyments were his family, wrestling and gardening.
He is survived by his five children, two sets of twins, Dale Edward Blubaugh and wife, Kenya, Bloomington, Indiana and Dean William Blubaugh and wife, Teena, of Gainesville, Florida the second set of twins, Dann Morlan Blubaugh, Solsberry, Indiana and Dana Owen Blubaugh of Bloomington, Indiana one daughter, Dawn Marie Blubaugh Hawkins and husband, Steve, of Gosport, Indiana and ten grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents three brothers, Jack Lee Blubaugh, Dr. Edward Blubaugh, and Jimmy DeWayne Blubaugh.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21, 2011 in the Worship Center of the First Baptist Church, 5th Central, Ponca City, Oklahoma with Shelby Wilson and Clyde Glazner presiding. Burial will follow in the Tonkawa I.O.O.F. Cemetery under the direction of Grace Memorial Chapel.
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