Linn Long, Hall of Fame Profile

In 1952, Boulder native Linn Long fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a University of Colorado athlete. While participating in baseball and wrestling, his unique love affair with the latter flourished upon his arrival at the university, which would ultimately map out the rest of his life. Humbly unaware of the legendary accomplishments to come, he quickly became one of the greatest wrestlers CU would ever see.

Born in a boarding house on the 700 block of Pearl Street, Long was destined to be a Buff. His passion for wrestling began in the front room of his family's north Boulder home when he was young. His father, Ira, would put the youngster in various holds and upon begging to be released he would hear, "no, you have to work your way out."

"When I was in fifth and sixth grade we had 10 cent tickets to the Saturday morning football games, and when I entered high school I attended every Buffalo wrestling meet," Long recalled.
Participating in multiple sports throughout his career at Boulder High School he realized that "he was never going to be much taller than 5-6" and put all of his energy into wrestling.

While compiling a college record of 203-152-6 in the Big 7 Conference 130-pound weight class, he placed second for three consecutive seasons and received All-American honors his senior season after placing third at the NCAA meet. In 1957 and 1958 he was selected to be a member of Team USA and was an alternate on the Olympic team on three occasions.

During his first year as a member of Team USA he traveled to Japan and was able to train with two future gold medalists, Terry McCann and Doug Blubaugh. The relationship between Long and the Olympians carried a "common exchange of learning," according to Long. Although, he humbly added "they gave me more than I gave them."

Upon graduation from CU he joined the Army and coached wrestling for two years. Long spent time traveling to Oklahoma for competition, but ultimately decided that he could make more of an impact on the wrestling community if he returned to Colorado to coach emerging collegiate wrestlers.

In 1961 he would return to CU and serve as the head coach of the wrestling team for eight years compiling an 85-58-3 record (77-41-3 in the last six). During this time four of his teams posted Top 20 national finishes. He coached eight different All-Americans, and led three Buffs to individual national titles.

His most treasured memory of coaching the CU wrestling team? Coaching the most successful wrestling team to ever represent the Buffaloes in 1964.

That year, the team tied for 4th at the NCAA Tournament. The real highlight of the tournament for Long was watching Dean Lahr win his second straight national championship and receive the honor for Most Outstanding Wrestler at the championship. On many occasions, Lahr has directly credited his success to Long's coaching and leadership.

Long has been a volunteer coach at Lyons High School since 1997. He is currently training some of the wrestlers, and is very excited for the season to start.

Long's countless individual feats, and significant role in the success of CU's wrestling program, has earned him a place in the Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame, an honor he did not think would ever happen. He expressed that he believes more often that not "wrestling is at the end of the alphabet," which is the reason he is grateful and excited to join the long line of remarkable Buffalo Hall of Famers.

Blissfully reminiscing his time as a Buffalo, Long wanted all to know "if it weren't for the University of Colorado my life wouldn't be what it is; it gave me a platform of education that gave me a terrific life."

Colorado University Athletics

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