Roger Frizzell (OU Legend, Hall of Famer and War-Hammer Wrestling Coach) gave all of Sooners Wrestling a night to remember in OU’s dual against the Air Force. Frizzell served as an Honorary Coach alongside Andre Metzger in the McCasland Field House.
Frizzell is a 4x NCAA All-American (1980-83), holds OU’s record for most career wins (115-24-2) and is in their Top 10 for most pins. He is also a Silver and Bronze Medalist at the US Senior Freestyle Championships with a bronze medal from the Junior World Freestyle Championships and received the Outstanding American Award from the OK Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010.
It’s little wonder Frizzell was asked to be an Honorary Coach for the OU v Air Force match up. Alongside his teammate on the 1981 Big 8 Championship Team, Andre Metzger, both men coached the No. 16 Sooners to a dominating 38-4 victory.
Under Metzger and Frizzell asHonoraryCoachesand the leadership of Head Coach Roger Kish, OU won 9 out of 10 bouts, while securing 4 bonus-point victories in the process. Frizzell gave the pep talks before and after the team’s win.
In honor of Frizzell’s dedication to the sport, OU announced his biography during halftime as he stood center mat. Frizzell reminisced about being honored and being on the same bench as Metz after so many years.
“It was very cool. I told Metzitwasthefirsttimein46 years for us to be on the team bench together,” Frizzell said. “Metz has great coaching instincts, so we got to be a one-two punch in coaching (with our mat advice) like we had done back in the day. I washappytobethereonaday where we won big, just like when we competed together.”
Frizzell said out of all of the things he’s done, this meant quite a bit to him.
“I’ve delivered graduation speeches at OU twice, spoke at the inauguration of the new Journalism and Communications building (Gaylord Hall), and delivered remarks at my coach’s life celebration… but this one surprisingly meant more to me than I ever expected.”