He introduced the sport of wrestling to the Deep South. Swede Umbach then spent the next 27 years as coach at Auburn University showing his opponents what it takes to win wrestling championships.

His Tigers captured 25 team trophies in the conference he founded, the Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. They won 249 dual meets, lost just 28 and tied five. Only one of those defeats was at the hands of a conference opponent.

He coached 127 conference champions and four national winners.

Umbach was born in Oklahoma Territory in 1903 and attended Oklahoma A&M Prep in 1919-20, where he learned wrestling from Hall of Fame coach Edward C. Gallagher. After concluding high school in Weatherford, he entered Southwestern Oklahoma State in 1924 and was a four-time conference champion as well as a football star of note.

He then spent 14 years coaching in Oklahoma high schools, producing state champions in both sports. His college coach, Carl Voyles, called Umbach to accompany him, first to William & Mary in 1941, then to Auburn in 1944. He launched Auburn's first wrestling program in 1946.

Umbach earned renown not only as an athlete and coach, but also as one of the sport's pioneer officials. He refereed 18 of the storied "Bedlam Series" battles between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, along with several national and international tournaments.

He served the sport in many ways, giving hundreds of free clinics, acting as president of the national coaches' association and a member of various rules committees, author of three books and host of the first NCAA tournament held in the South.

For a lifetime of contributions to the sport, as the father of wrestling programs in many areas and as a coach of remarkable achievement and leadership, Arnold W. Umbach is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.