R.G. Clapp

Dr. Raymond G. Clapp served as Nebraska sixth head track and field coach from 1903-1909. He was the first coach to serve more than a single season in the position. He coached NU's first two Missouri Valley Conference champions: J.C. Knode (high jump, 1908) and D.G. McDonald (120- and 220-yard hurdles, 1909).

Also the Huskers' first wrestling coach (1911-26), Clapp was more than just a mentor for the first athletes who enjoyed the sport at the university. He was a prominent figure locally and internationally in the world of wrestling.

In the 1890s, Clapp distinguished himself as an all-around athlete while a student at Williston Seminary and at Yale University, starring in football, track, gymnastics and tennis.

It was as a track athlete at Yale that he rose to national and world prominence. Clapp won the IC4A pole vault title twice, annexed the national A.A.U. championship, earned a Canadian title and in 1898, he topped all performances to set a then-world mark in the vault of nearly 12 feet.

Dr. Clapp's interest and ability in gymnastics probably were more responsible than any other one thing in creating his great interest in collegiate wrestling. In addition to his many athletic distinctions, Clapp was crowned the all-around individual gymnastics champion of the Eastern Intercollegiate Association in 1889.

As a member and eventual chairman of the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee, Clapp was largely responsible for the efficient organization of collegiate wrestling tournaments in the 1930s and 1940s. Clapp pioneered the system that is used to run many of the meets that take place even today.

While Ed Gallagher was building wrestling popularity in the Southwest, and Charlie Mayser was doing likewise in the East and Midwest, Dr. Clapp initiated college wrestling at the University of Nebraska in the earliest days of the sport, serving as head coach from 1911 to 1926.

Known widely as a leader in the promotion of collegiate wrestling, Clapp served in the administrative branch of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association for numerous years.

In 1932 and 1936, Clapp was secretary of the American Olympic Wrestling Committee and in 1940 was elected chairman of the committee. As chairman of the USA-Pan American Wrestling Committee and the committee representative to the 1942 Pan-American Games Committee, Clapp became increasingly prominent in the wrestling community.

For over 30 years, Clapp freely and willingly gave his time and energy to popularize collegiate wrestling. His effect on the growth and increase in the popularity of the sport was always evident.