Vaughan Hitchcock coached the Cal Poly wrestling program to eight NCAA Division II national championships in the late 1960s and early 1970s during a 23-year coaching career with the Mustangs.

Hitchcock compiled a 355-112-4 record from 1962 through 1985 at Cal Poly, including a streak of over 150 consecutive victories against California opponents.

After Cal Poly won eight NCAA Division II titles, including seven straight from 1968 through 1974, Hitchcock guided Cal Poly in its elevation of the wrestling program to Division I in time for the 1974-75 season.

Seven of his teams finished among the Top 10 teams nationally in the NCAA I Nationals.

Hitchcock's wrestlers won 18 NCAA Division II national championships and earned All-American honors 67 times. At the Division I level, two Mustangs claimed national titles and 22 earned All-American honors. Twice Hitchcock was named NCAA Division II Wrestling Coach of the Year.

Born Jan. 1, 1934, Hitchcock was an outstanding football player and three-time Northern California wrestling champion at Hayward High School, where he posted a 101-2-0 career mark.

He went on to excel in both sports at Washington State in the mid-1950s. In wrestling, he was 97-4 overall with two Pacific Coast Intercollegiate titles while, in football, the fullback, guard and linebacker was selected to play in the 1956 East-West Shrine Classic. He was named Washington State's Athlete of the Year in 1956 and the football team's Player of the Year in 1955, also earning All-Pacific Coast honors.

Hitchcock coached high school wrestling at Castro Valley and Hayward high schools, posting a combined record of 72-1, winning five league championships, four CIF Section Championships, two Northern California Invitational team titles and the 1959 state championship while at Castro Valley. He also coached football to a 16-7-1 record while at Hayward.

Hitchcock served the NCAA Division II and the sport of wrestling in many leadership capacities and coached Team USA in numerous international competitions. He was team leader of the 1976 USA Olympic Greco-Roman team and team leader and coach of the 1979 USA Freestyle Team.

Hitchcock was inducted into the Helms Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994, the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998 and the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000. He received the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's "Lifetime to Service Award" in 2002.

He launched the Vaughan Hitchcock Wrestling Camp in 1967 and managed the annual camp until 2001.