Top 5 American Wrestlers to Ever Compete at the Olympics

Americans have been very dominant on the wrestling mats throughout the years. They are the only ones that have been able to compete with the dominance of the Russians. Collegiate and National level wrestling in the U.S. takes place at the highest of levels.

With a lot of wrestling pedigree, 3rd and 4th generation athletes, and Olympic level coaches, the USA has a strong wrestling base. Once in every few years, there’s always a dominant wrestler that takes over an entire weight category from the U.S.
Today we look at the Top 5 American Wrestlers at the Olympics.

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Top 5 Americans in Olympic Wrestling

1. John smith:

John William Smith is considered to be one of the greatest American wrestlers of all time. He is a two-time Olympic Champion, six-time World Level Champion, two-time NCAA Division I Champion, and has four World Wrestling Championship titles.

To date, John Smith has won more Olympic and World gold medals in wrestling than any other American.

2. Bruce Baumgartner:

Bruce Robert Baumgartner is the most decorated Super heavyweight wrestler in American history. As a college athlete, he won an NCAA National Championship, 2 runner-up finishes, 2 AAU National Titles, and a Junior national title.

In his professional career, he won 3 World titles, 4 Olympic Medals (2 gold, one silver, and one bronze), 3 golds at the Pan American Games, 17 American titles, and 8 World cup wins.

3. Jordan Burroughs:

Jordan Ernest Burroughs is one of the most dominant wrestlers in the world right now, even though he hasn’t qualified for the Olympics this year. He dominated the 74 kg weight class for over a decade in America.

In his professional career, he won the Olympic gold in 2012, four-time World Champion (seven-time medallist), three-time Pan American Games gold medallist, four-time Pan American Champion, and the four-time U.S. National Open Champion.

4. Dan Gable:

Danny Mack Gable is a World gold medallist, a two-time NCAA Division I Champion, and an Olympic gold medallist. In December 2020, they honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

5. Cael Sanderson:

Cael Norman Sanderson won many laurels as a wrestler. He won Olympic gold in 2004 and was undefeated in four years of college wrestling at Iowa State University.

Cael held a 159-0 College wrestling record and won four NCAA Division I Championships. He is the only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to go undefeated with more than a hundred wins.