When it comes to North Dakota State, it is nearly impossible to talk about the success of the athletic programs without the focus of the conversation turning to Bucky Maughan. His four national championships, 30 individual NCAA champions, and 17 conference titles are nearly unrivaled in collegiate athletics.

Maughan begins his 47th season as the head wrestling coach at NDSU with an overall record of 457-153-13, establishing the Bison wrestling program as one of the top in the nation. He now leads the Bison into their fourth season of Division I competition.

Maughan sent two wrestlers, Ryan Adams and Vince Salminen, to the NCAA Championships in 2009-10.  Adams finished his career as a three-time NCAA qualifier.

Under Maughan’s guidance, the Bison captured NCAA Division II national championships in 1988, 1998, 2000, and 2001, while finishing as the national runner-up six times (1972, 1982, 1983, 1992, 2002, and 2004) and placing third six times as well (1973, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, and 1995).

A constant in the Division II national rankings, NDSU had 32 finishes in the top 10, including a string of 15 straight seasons from 1981-1996. The Bison have also finished in the top five 27 times since Maughan took over the program in the 1964-65 season.

During NDSU’s 40-year affiliation with the North Central Conference, Maughan helped produce 88 NCC individual champions, including four-time champs Brian Kapusta and Steve Saxlund. Maughan has coached over 150 All-American wrestlers and two U.S. Olympic team members in Brad Rheingans and John Morgan.

In 2003, Maughan received perhaps the highest honor of his impressive career when he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997, being joined by Bill Demaray and Rheingans, two of Maughan’s national champion wrestlers.

A former Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestler, Maughan won two national championships in the same year. He won the 1963 NAIA 123-pound title, followed up by capturing the NCAA Division I 115-pound championship. The NAIA championship was the second of his career, having also won the 1962 championship.

Maughan’s championship days began early while growing up in Canonsburg, Pa. He was a state high school champion and won 70 consecutive dual matches during his high school career.

He has also stayed active on the administration side as well, serving time as a member of the executive committee of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and is also a former president of the NCAA Division II Coaches Association.

Maughan and his wife, Leota, are the parents of two sons who also have wrestling in their blood.

Jack was a two-time Division II All-American wrestler at North Dakota State and has spent the past 20 years as the head wrestling coach at Western Wrestling Conference rival Northern Colorado.

Bret was a two-time All-American as well as a national runner-up at 118 pounds for the Bison in 1991 and is beginning his eighth season as assistant coach to his father at North Dakota State.