Coach with Canonsburg ties closes 47-year careerCOLLEGE WRESTLING
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Arthur "Bucky" Maughan has spent most of his life in North Dakota, but he still has ties to Southwestern Pennsylvania.
"My mother lives near Waynesburg," said Maughan, who attended Canonsburg High School. "She's 91. I don't get to visit as often as I would like."
Maughan, who just turned 70, will now have more time to visit his mother. One month ago, Maughan retired from his job as head wrestling coach at North Dakota State University, located in Fargo.
"The sport of wrestling was introduced in North Dakota five years before I started coaching," said Maughan, who coached the Bison for 47 years. "They had a track coach running the [wrestling] program before I took over in 1964, and they didn't win many matches."
The program has won quite a few matches since Maughan took charge.
Maughan is clearly the winningest coach in North Dakota State history. He finished his career with a record of 467-157-13. He led the Bison to three undefeated seasons in 1984-85, 1991-92 and 2003-04.
"The NDSU wrestling program is synonymous with the Maughan name," said Gene Taylor, the school's director of athletics. "Bucky has built a standard of excellence for our program over his 47 years that we will be eternally grateful for. He will be missed in the wrestling room but we look forward to his continued involvement as an ambassador for wrestling and our wrestling alumni."
A National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, Maughan led the Bison to four NCAA Division II national championships in 1988, 1998, 2000 and 2001 as well as six national runner-up finishes.
During the Division II era, he coached 21 wrestlers to 30 NCAA Division II national championships and had 19 wrestlers compete in the Division I Championships, including six place-winners.
Maughan also led North Dakota State to 17 North Central Conference titles, including a span of nine in a row from 1982-1990, and coached 88 individual conference champions. He was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997.
"The thing I'm most proud of is the consistency we've had over the years," Maughan said. "I'm also proud of the success we've had since moving up to Division I."
Maughan successfully guided the Bison into the Division I era. Since making the move to Division I in 2006, he has coached five Western Wrestling Conference champions and sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Divison I Championships.
"My mother lives near Waynesburg," said Maughan, who attended Canonsburg High School. "She's 91. I don't get to visit as often as I would like."
Maughan, who just turned 70, will now have more time to visit his mother. One month ago, Maughan retired from his job as head wrestling coach at North Dakota State University, located in Fargo.
"The sport of wrestling was introduced in North Dakota five years before I started coaching," said Maughan, who coached the Bison for 47 years. "They had a track coach running the [wrestling] program before I took over in 1964, and they didn't win many matches."
The program has won quite a few matches since Maughan took charge.
Maughan is clearly the winningest coach in North Dakota State history. He finished his career with a record of 467-157-13. He led the Bison to three undefeated seasons in 1984-85, 1991-92 and 2003-04.
"The NDSU wrestling program is synonymous with the Maughan name," said Gene Taylor, the school's director of athletics. "Bucky has built a standard of excellence for our program over his 47 years that we will be eternally grateful for. He will be missed in the wrestling room but we look forward to his continued involvement as an ambassador for wrestling and our wrestling alumni."
A National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, Maughan led the Bison to four NCAA Division II national championships in 1988, 1998, 2000 and 2001 as well as six national runner-up finishes.
During the Division II era, he coached 21 wrestlers to 30 NCAA Division II national championships and had 19 wrestlers compete in the Division I Championships, including six place-winners.
Maughan also led North Dakota State to 17 North Central Conference titles, including a span of nine in a row from 1982-1990, and coached 88 individual conference champions. He was inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997.
"The thing I'm most proud of is the consistency we've had over the years," Maughan said. "I'm also proud of the success we've had since moving up to Division I."
Maughan successfully guided the Bison into the Division I era. Since making the move to Division I in 2006, he has coached five Western Wrestling Conference champions and sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Divison I Championships.
"We had one of the most successful wrestling programs in Division II history," Maughan said. "The next step was to have success at the Division I level and I think it's safe to say we've done that. We had a 10-4 record last year and have had two excellent recruiting classes."
Maughan still loves coaching, but doesn't feel he can keep up with his wrestlers.
"I don't feel any different than I did 25 years ago, but my timing is off," Maughan said. "I just don't move as quickly on the mat. I decided that it was time to hang it up."
Maughan may be stepping down as head coach, but his association with the university will continue.
"I started an endowment fund in the '90s to benefit the program and the university," Maughan said. "I plan to keep working in that area until we complete the renovations to the Fargodome, which should begin next fall.
"We built the Fargodome in 1970 for $3,000,000. Now we're spending $38 million to renovate the entire facility. We're spending $1,000,000 on the new wrestling complex, which will have a huge wrestling room, locker room, showers and weight room. Our facilities will put us on par with most of the major programs in the country."
Maughan was 22 when he took over the North Dakota State program and had just graduated from Moorhead State University. As a wrestler, he won NAIA titles in 1962 and 1963 and also claimed the 1963 NCAA Division I 115-pound championship.
But his wrestling career began at Canonsburg High School. He won three WPIAL titles (1957-59) and one PIAA crown (1959). He placed second in the country in 1957 and 1958.
"I always tell people that I learned to wrestle at the best high school in the best state for wrestling," Maughan said. "We learned the proper way to wrestle and faced some of the best programs in the state."
Maughan's son, Bret, an alumnus and assistant coach the past 10 years, is one of several applicants being considered for the job.
"We have a lot of great applicants for the job," Maughan said. "Our hope is to make a decision in the next couple weeks."
