Hall of Fame
Roy “Cowboy” Dunn grew up on a farm near Gate. His first love was football and that love eventually brought him to Northwestern where he played tackle for the Rangers. However, his interests soon found room for wrestling. Dunn and some of his classmates, with a volunteer coach, began the first wrestling team at Northwestern in 1932. Dunn graduated from Northwestern in 1933 with a teaching certificate. He then graduated in 1935 from Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater where he worked under the famed mat coach Ed Gallagher. In 1936, Dunn was named to the U.S. Wrestling team which competed in the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. After the Olympics, Dunn became a professional wrestler. In 1940 he won the World’s Heavyweight Title and Belt which he held until his retirement in 1957 after more than 2,900 matches. Dunn has spent time and money working with young people through the years and also returned to Northwestern on several occasions to host fundraising wrestling matches. Dunn returned to Northwestern in 1993 to receive his 60-year pin. He now lives in Holly, Colo., with his wife Ruth.
