Cowboy Up: John Smith Leads the Legendary Oklahoma State Wrestlers to Their Greatest Season Ever

by Kim D. Parrish, Gini Moore Campbell (Editor)

In November 2004, the storied Oklahoma State wrestling squad, led by legendary coach and Olympic champion John Smith, embarked on what some considered the toughest and most grueling schedule in college wrestling history in quest of the unthinkable their third consecutive and 33rd overall national team title. For 18 weeks the Cowboys traveled almost 16,000 miles by bus, plane, van and automobile to 12 different states, through four time zones, in and out of 10 hotels as they wrestled 21 dual matches and three tournaments against bone-hard competition. Cowboy wrestling is truly one of Oklahoma s most masterful historical treasures, with more national collegiate titles than Notre Dame football and UCLA basketball combined. Cowboy Up provides an intimate, inside look at that historic effort. Coach Smith granted author Kim D. Parrish unprecedented access to the Cowboy program for an entire season. He has crafted an enchanting, poignant and revealing story of college wrestling s most storied program - and college athletics most punishing yet gratifying sport. It is a story of glory and heartbreak, sacrifice and betrayal. Wrestlers and coaches will be instructed as they read of Coach Smith applying training techniques and motivational tools in the context of an actual championship season. Wrestling fans will learn how a slight boy from Del City, who was pinned in his first five matches, rose to become arguably the greatest American athlete in the 20th century. All Oklahomans will take pride as they read of perhaps the most successful endeavor, sporting and otherwise, since Oklahoma s statehood in 1907.

405 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Kim]

I wrote it so I'm biased.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In general I like it. It has nice background information on Oklahoma State head coach John Smith. For me it had more of a factual than an emotional sense as I read it.

The only real grievance I have is there are a few city name errors which are glaringly noticable to a native Iowan in the Iowa State/Northern Iowa chapter. It would have been nice for someone to have verified those before publication.

I've read a couple books on wrestling before, but they were based around Iowa wrestlers (college and high school) so it was really nice to read something on the great wrestling program in Oklahoma.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

parrish, a lawyer turned writer, does an incredible job of covering heavyweight wrestling legend steve mocco's first year with the ok state cowboys, arguably the greatest season in the program's storied history (johnny hendricks and jake rosholt were there, among others)

not as well written but far more detailed than the similar "year in the life" of dan gable book that dropped a few years before that. also the best look at the life and times of john smith (the country's greatest wrestler, greater than gable)