Wrestling Photo Gallery

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In the Spring of 1964, Dr. Louis Bowers taught the first class in Beginning Wrestling at UL. Some of the class members had wrestled at Jesuit, Holy Cross, and Basile High Schools and helped with the novice wrestlers. Near the end of the course class members inquired about outside competition. A match was arranged with the LSU Wrestling Club and, encouraged by that experience, the group moved to form a wrestling club the following year.

With financial support from the SGA and Bowers serving as coach, the Wrestling Club launched its first schedule in the 1964-1965 season with matches against Fort Polk Army Base, the New Orleans Athletic Club, and the LSU Wrestling Club. Winning the LSU match was the highlight of the season.

The 1965-1966 season included a weekend roadtrip which resulted in USL defeating Wrestling Clubs at the University of Texas on Friday, Texas A&M on Saturday, then losing to a LeTourneau College team with scholarship wrestlers on Sunday. In a return match UL upset the veteran LeTourneau team by one point. Highlights of the 1965-1966 season was the Southern AAU Wrestling Tournament where several members placed in the top three of their weight class. John Dupree, with only two years of experience, won the championship in the light heavyweight division and Edmond Miller, Club President, qualified and wrestled in the NCAA Tournament in 1966. (Special acknowledgements are extended to Dr. Louis Bowers for providing this background information).

To view the names of the 1965-1975 Wrestling Club Members click on www.athleticnetwork.net ,  use the search engine on the left side of the home page, click on the white "Select a Team" box in the Sports & Teams link, place the cursor on Wrestling and click when it becomes highlighted. The list of Wrestlers are in order by year. Place the cursor on a name, click as it becomes underlined, and their profile (if submitted) should appear.

To view the names of the Wrestling Head Coaches, click the Photo Gallery link, then Head Coaches, then scroll down to Wrestling Head Coaches, and click. The AN encourages all former coaches and wrestlers to submit their profile by clicking the Submit/Update Profile link, and supply information per the profile format.

Posted by Dr. Ed Dugas with information provided by Dr. Louis Bowers who taught the first wrestling class, sponsored the first Wrestling Club, and coached the first Wrestling team.