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Charles Ackerly
American wrestler (1898–1982) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Edwin "Charley" Ackerly (January 3, 1898 – August 16, 1982) was an American wrestler who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.[1] He was a 1920 graduate of Cornell University where he competed for the Cornell Big Red wrestling team under Coach Walter O'Connell. Ackerly was also a member of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity and Sphinx Head Society.
![]() Ackerly pictured far left | |||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | (1898-01-03)January 3, 1898 Cuba, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
Died | August 16, 1982(1982-08-16) (aged 84) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||
Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Freestyle and Folkstyle | ||||||||||||||
College team | Cornell | ||||||||||||||
Team | USA | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He competed for the United States in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium in the freestyle featherweight division, winning the gold medal.[2] He was the only American wrestler to win gold during the 1920 Olympics, and was given a hero's welcome in his hometown of Cuba, New York following his return from Antwerp.[3]
Ackerly was inducted into the Helms Foundation National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1960 and Cornell's Hall of Fame in 1981.[4]
After his wrestling career, he worked as a lawyer in Detroit, Michigan before retiring to Clearwater, Florida.[5]