The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was saddened to learn that Stan Abel, a Distinguished Member inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, passed away on June 28, at the age of 87.

"We are saddened to hear about the passing of Stan Abel. On behalf of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors and our staff, I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and the many wrestlers and fans he engaged during a 40-year career as a competitor and coach," said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. "A fierce competitor as an athlete and coach, Stan was a great recruiter and motivator with a larger-than-life personality.

"He loved being a University of Oklahoma alum and talking about the Sooners traditions and legends in all sports," he added. "Stan was involved as a competitor and as a coach in some of the most epic and memorable Bedlam battles against Oklahoma State. He made a significant impact on the sport and will be missed."

With two national championships as a wrestler, and another as a coach, Abel reached across five decades with a career marked by continuing success. Vigorous, vehement and volatile, he was one of the best-known figures in the sport. Abel always was out in front for his wrestlers, fighting as hard for them off the mat as he ever asked them to fight on the mat.

In 29 years as a head coach, he amassed more than 350 dual meet victories and a consistent 73 percent winning record against the toughest possible lineup of opponents. Abel became coach at the University of Oklahoma in 1973, successor to three other Hall of Fame coaches. His Sooners won the NCAA championship in 1974, placed second four times and only once finished out of the nation's Top 10.

He coached 15 NCAA champions and 74 All-Americans. One of his proudest moments came in 1984 when his son, Darren, earned All-America honors as an OU wrestler. The Sooners captured three Big Eight trophies and Abel was conference coach of the year three times. He was Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year in 1974, and National Coach of the Year in 1985.

As a wrestler, he was a three-time collegiate All-American, placing third as a sophomore and winning the NCAA title at 130 pounds the next two years. In 1960, Abel won his second Big Eight crown, was conference wrestler of the year, and led the Sooners to the NCAA team championship. He had a career record of 53-5-1.

After posting a 69-4-2 record as coach at Putnam City High School, where he had wrestled, Abel served three years as an assistant at Ohio University, then became head coach at Cincinnati in 1972. One season later he was summoned home to Oklahoma, to continue the wrestling tradition established by Paul Keen, Port Robertson and Tommy Evans.