Peter Mehringer
Peter Joseph Mehringer was an Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler from Kinsley, Kansas. Nicknamed the "Kansas Whirlwind," Mehringer undoubtedly ranks as one of the greatest wrestlers ever to attend the University of Kansas. After learning how to wrestle from a correspondence course, he went on to win two Kansas state championships, and three Missouri Valley Conference titles while at the University of Kansas. In 1932, the KU sophomore won a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, being the first time a KU athlete ever won the gold.
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. Unfortunately, financial considerations prevented him from graduating from KU.
Mehringer then went on to a professional football career with the Chicago Cardinals and the Los Angeles Bulldogs, and worked occasionally as a movie extra and stunt man. Although he declined to discuss it in his later years, he is KU’s only grappling icon to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
