Jack Roller named W.I.N. 2005 Impact Award Winner
Jack Roller calls his enterprise of youth wrestling tournaments, “W.O.W,” which actually stands for “World Of Wrestling.”
But that acronym could also be the reaction of the thousands of young men who get their first experience of national competition.
“When little Johnny comes to one of our tournaments, he thinks he’s been to an Olympics,” said Roller. “They think they’ve just wrestled in the toughest tournament in the world.”
“Jack’s tournaments give these kids a strong sense of accomplishment,” said former Olympic gold medalist Kenny Monday, who has seen the Tulsa Nationals from two different perspectives, as an athlete — winning five championships before 1984 — to now serving as a youth coach in Dallas, Texas.
The Tulsa Nationals, in its 50 years, has been around a lot longer than Roller has served as the director. But as the tou
rnament’s director since 1979, Roller has become somewhat of a Pied Piper for kids as he expects more than 2,000 young wrestlers between the ages of 6 and 15 to visit Tulsa this January. Two months later, he expects over 3,000 at the Reno Worlds.And providing that opportunity to an ever-growing number of young wrestlers is one reason that Roller was named Impact Award winner for 2005 by Wrestling International Newsmagazine.
“Jack has established a reputation in the wrestling world for putting on top-notch youth tournaments. But at the same time, he really helps preserve the sport’s history by making sure kids know and have a chance to meet wrestling icons like Dan Hodge and Olympic champions like Monday,” said W.I.N. Publisher Bryan Van Kley.
The Roller name has been well know in wrestling, especially in Oklahoma where Jack’s four sons have all been successful on nearly every level of amateur wrestling, including Shane who won eight Tulsa National championships before he earned three All-American honors at Oklahoma State University (2000-03).
Oddly, Jack was never a successful wrestler. In fact, he’s never wrestled a day in his life after growing up playing basketball in Oklahoma.
But once his wife, Bev, started taking the Roller boys to youth tournaments, Jack left the oil business and did what came natural — got involved in the sport of wrestling. That included becoming an AAU director in the state of Oklahoma.
Beginning in 1979, Roller eventually found himself running the Tulsa Nationals, which started in 1953 and is considered the oldest youth tournament in the country.
But under the guidance of Jack, who calls himself, “a little bit rebellious,” the tournament has continued to grow larger every year.
Many of the former wrestlers in Roller’s tournaments have gone on to compete on the elite level in college. During last year’s NCAA tournament in St. Louis, Roller looked over the entries and figured out that nearly 40 percent of the NCAA qualifiers had competed in the Tulsa Nationals.
Roller, whose first tournament is the Cliff Keen Kickoff Classic in Tulsa, also offers two other events in Reno, Nev., as many of his workers in Tulsa also make the trip to Nevada.
“I’m absolutely the luckiest guy in the world because I have people who follow me all over the country,” said Roller, who also likes to bring back former youth wrestlers who have also excelled on a larger stage, including the legendary Hodge, who at age 72, still thrills the kids when he crushes an apple with one hand, and 2004 Olympic champion Cael Sanderson who will attend this year’s Tulsa Nationals.
Roller admits that he has endured criticism over the years.
“Some people think I’m getting rich with these tournaments, but I put much of the money back into events by providing impressive trophies for the kids.”
Roller, who is unsure how long he will continue to direct these tournaments, said his love for the youth is what keeps him going.
“If I’ve been able to keep just one kid off drugs,” Roller said, “then it’s been all worth it.” (You can read this and other articles by subscribing to W.I.N. Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)