Bill Koll

William H. Koll (August 12, 1923 – September 27, 2003) was an American wrestler and coach.

Bill Koll

Personal information
Full name	William H. Koll
Born	(1923-08-12)August 12, 1923 Fort Dodge, Iowa, U.S.
Died	September 27, 2003(2003-09-27) (aged 80) State College, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle and Folkstyle
College team	Iowa State Teachers College
Team	USA
Medal record Collegiate Wrestling Representing Iowa State Teachers College NCAA Championships 1946 Stillwater 145 lb 1947 Champaign 145 lb 1948 Bethlehem 147 lb

Biography

Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1923, Koll was a wrestler at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) and later became a wrestling coach, most notably at his alma mater and for the Penn State Nittany Lions wrestling team. As a wrestler, Koll was undefeated (72–0) and won three straight NCAA Championships (1946–1948). He was twice voted the most outstanding wrestler at the national tournament, the first wrestler to achieve this honor.

Koll's college career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served and participated in the Normandy landings and earned a Bronze Star. Koll competed for the U.S. at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London^[1] and placed fifth in the freestyle competition. As a professor of Health and Physical Education and coach, Koll led Penn State for 14 seasons (1965–1979), which included unbeaten dual meet campaigns in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974.

Koll is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame^[2] and the father of Rob Koll, a collegiate wrestling head coach and NCAA champion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[3] Koll died in 2003 in State College, Pennsylvania at the age of 80.

See also

• List of Pennsylvania State University Olympians

References

1. Wrestling at the 1948 Olympics
2. "Bill Koll Entry to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
3. "Bill & Rob Koll: Like Father, Like Son". The Wrestling Talk, July. 7, 2007. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2010.