Tom Erikson

Tom Erikson (born July 6, 1964) is an American former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist who competed in the super heavyweight division.

Weighing between 125 kg and 139.8 kg throughout his career, "The Big Cat" began wrestling at an early age and was twice National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Junior Collegiate Champion at Triton College before achieving National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I honors twice at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater.

Wrestling for Triton College, he was a two-time NJCAA National Champion in 1984 and 1985, winning the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the 1985 tournament.

Erikson had a good wrestling career - He was not a state qualifier at Bloom, but grew into a two-time national champion in 1984 and 1985 at Triton Junior College under the late Art Kraft.

"He'd have been a three-time gold medalist if it wasn't for Bruce," says Mitch Hull, national teams director for USA Wrestling and himself an alternate in the 1984 Games.

Erikson was known as the 'Ultimate Never Give Up Warrior'.

He was also a two-time NCAA Division I Collegiate wrestling All-American, in 1986 and 1987, while competing for Oklahoma State University.

Erikson made the switch to the emerging sport of mixed martial arts almost ten years later.

He then became a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State, placing 4th in 1986, and 3rd in 1987.

After college, Erikson found early success by winning a freestyle gold medal at the 1988 Canada Cup, beating future Greco-Roman Olympic silver medalist Matt Ghaffari 5–4 in the gold medal match.

Erikson was highly successful in freestyle - The only problem was, so was Bruce Baumgartner.

"He was No. 2 in the world, behind Bruce, for a long time," said Olympic coach Greg Strobel.

"He beat all the world champions but Bruce. He could have been a gold medal winner."

Erikson was a 3-time Olympic Alternate in 1988, 1992, and 1996, losing all three times to Bruce Baumgartner in the finals to make the Olympic Team.

In those three Olympic Games, Baumgartner went on to take silver in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 1992 Olympic gold in Barcelona, and a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Ga.

"It's an emotional roller coaster," says the 6-foot-4-inch, 286-pound wrestler.

"It's hard for someone to feel sympathy for me. It's like, 'Are you stupid?' But I still have a dream to be the best at it, and I try and keep a sense of humor."

But the joke wears thin at times, especially because Mr. Erikson is no slouch himself.

He was finally able to capture first place in the 1992 World Cup, the only year Mr. Baumgartner had sat out.

Erikson represented Team USA at the World Cup, becoming the 1992 World Cup Champion with a 5-2 signature win over Georgi Kaisimov (RUS).

In 1996, Erikson was originally scouted by Richard Hamilton to fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 10 event, but he was passed over for Mark Coleman.

Erikson then joined his friend Rico Chiapparelli, who would go to found the Real American Wrestling team with other successful wrestlers.

Tom would debut before the existence of the team, being managed by Chiapparelli personally.

Erikson debuted on November 22, 1996, at the Martial Arts Reality Superfighting eight-man openweight tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.

In the quarter finals, Erikson defeated sambo fighter Aleksander Khramstovskly via KO by elbows and punches, and then submitted Willie Peeters with a neck crank just thirty-one seconds into the semis; he went to meet Murilo Bustamante in the final, in what would be considered a classic match.

Erikson outweighed the Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist by around 45 kg/100 lb and got the takedown immediately, which Murilo tried to counter with upkicks and a heel hook attempt.

Not much happened, however, as while Erikson was effectively shutting off Bustamante's offense, he was unable to pass his guard, and the men had to return to their feet eighteen minutes later.

The remainder of the bout saw some striking exchanges and Bustamante attempting to pull guard.

An extra ten minutes overtime was added onto the match after the regulation thirty minutes finished without a winner, and they returned to their respective positions, with Murilo lying on the ground waiting for Tom to grapple and Erikson standing unwilling to enter The Grappler's field.

However, this time Erikson devised a special strategy: he would dive into Bustamante's guard to score punches before disengaging and standing back up to avoid danger, and then repeat the process over and over.

Erikson was the 1997 U.S. National Champion, and a member of the 1997 U.S. Senior Freestyle World Team, placing fourth in the World Championships at 130 kg. He embarked on his career in MMA in 1996 and went on to fight in the Pride Fighting Championships, being a founding member of the prestigious RAW team.

Erikson was a long time assistant wrestling coach at Purdue University, where he has been coaching since 1997.

After 8 finals losses to Baumgartner, Erikson finally got to raise the long-awaited coveted USA Wrestling 'Stop Sign' over his head, by defeating future 2-time Olympian Kerry McCoy 7–4, to become the 1997 U.S. Open National Champion.

After the victory, Erikson fell to his hands and knees overwhelmed with emotion.

Many in the USA Wrestling community thought that an award should have been made after Erikson's retirement called the 'Tom Erikson Never Give Up Perseverance Award'.

Erikson finished his career as a 15-time U.S. national medalist - winning 1 gold, 10 silver, and 4 bronze medals in the USA Wrestling national championship era, never placing below third place at any US Open.

He was also a member of the 1997 U.S. Senior Freestyle World Team, placing fourth in the World Championships at 130 kg.

In 2015 Tom accepted the head wrestling coach position at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas.

In 2020 he stepped down from his position at Lyon College, to become an assistant coach at Duke University.

Erikson was a graduate of Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois.