Peter Mehringer

Peter Joseph Mehringer was an American Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle wrestler from Kinsley, Kansas. Mehringer was nicknamed the "Kansas Whirlwind".
After learning how to wrestle from a correspondence course, he went on to win two Kansas high school state championships, and then three Missouri Valley Conference titles while attending the University of Kansas. He was an All-American and national runner-up at the 1932 NCAA championships. The KU sophomore won a gold medal at the [1932 Summer Olympics|1932 Olympic Games], becoming the first KU athlete to ever have won an Olympic gold medal. Mehringer returned to KU in 1932 for his junior season and solidified his place among KU's all-time great athletes by earning All-Big Six Conference honors in football as a 214-pound tackle. Financial considerations prevented him from graduating from KU.
Mehringer went on to play professional football with the Chicago Cardinals and the Los Angeles Bulldogs, and worked occasionally as a movie extra and stunt man. He is also KU's only grappling icon to have pursue a career in professional wrestling, mostly doing tours in New Zealand.
He was inducted into the National Wrestling [Hall of Fame and Museum|National Wrestling Hall of Fame] as a Distinguished Member in 1983 and the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1984.