THE GREATEST EVER: Japanese import Uetake honored by Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame

When I was a kid, OSU wrestler Yoshiro Fujita amazed me. Quick. Agile. Dominant.

I’d watch Cowboy matches with my dad and rave about Fujita, who went 48-1 as a Cowboy from 1970-72, losing only when he defaulted due to injury in the ’72 NCAA Championships.

“He’s good,” my dad would say. “But you should have seen Uetake.”

Monday night, I finally did. Yojiro Uetake Obata, OSU’s undefeated, three-time NCAA champ and Japan’s two-time Olympic gold medalist, was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. And on a night that as much as anything celebrated the Cowboys’ grand tradition on the mat, a night that included three stage appearances by the Smith brothers, the First Family of Wrestling, Uetake was the star.