One of the more influential college wrestling coaches in the Midwest, Fritz Gustave Knorr posted a 142-115-4 dual record as the coach at Kansas State University during his 19-year tenure from 1952 to 1971.

He was a member of the NCAA wrestling rules committee from 1956-62, including serving as chairman from 1960-61.

Knorr helped adopt the takedown scoring system in wrestling, served as president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, and helped start the grade school state wrestling tournament in 1964.

As a teenager, Knorr earned 10 letters as an athlete at Savannah High School in Savannah, Missouri, before attending Kansas State University. He earned three letters each in football and wrestling at Kansas State despite never wrestling before attending college.

Knorr began his 40-year coaching career at Waterville High School in Waterville, Kansas (1932-37) and Kansas City Northwest Junior High (1937-42).

He joined the Kansas State staff in 1942, serving as the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach from 1944-46 and as the baseball coach in 1949-50 before becoming the head wrestling coach in 1952.