Championships came early and often for Bill Smith of the University of Northern Iowa, but he scaled the ultimate heights in 1952 when he won the Olympic gold medal at 160.5 pounds at Helsinki.

He was National Collegiate champion twice during a college career which saw 52 victories, a draw and no defeats. His second title, in 1950, led the great Iowa Teachers team of Hall of Fame coach Dave McCuskey to the national crown.

Three times, starting in 1949, he was the National AAU Freestyle champion at 165 pounds and all three years the collegians from Northern Iowa marched away with the team trophy.

Four years after his gold medal triumph, Bill Smith won the 1956 Olympic trials at 174 pounds, but later was declared ineligible for the Games because he already had launched a coaching career that was to span three levels of competition.

In four seasons at Rock Island, Illinois, he produced a state high school team champion and a 57-5 record. He spent four more years with a winning record at the University of Nebraska, then moved to California for nearly a decade as coach of the Olympic Club of San Francisco, a powerhouse of open competition which won three national team titles in Freestyle and four in Greco-Roman wrestling.

He served as Canadian Olympic coach in 1968, then returned to California to the high school ranks. In 1976, his Clayton Valley team from Concord won the California high school championship, marking Bill Smith as one of the few coaches to lead prep winners in more than one state.

In recognition of his achievements as a champion wrestler and his contributions to the sport in developing new talent at all levels, William Thomas Smith is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.