DORY FUNK SR. - INDUCTEE #40
hall of fame fast fact:
Amarillo's Bob Drent once accompanied Dory Funk Sr. on a plane trip to Hawaii in the mid-1970s. Before the trip, they hadn't met. "We played some cards and I lost $50, but it's the most fun I ever had," Brent said. "He had a wonderful personality."
Dory Funk Sr.
Dory Funk Sr. of Indiana was an outstanding collegiate wrestler at the University of Indiana.
Funk held the Indiana Amateur Athletic Union Title and was the Indiana high school state wrestling champion for three straight years before moving to Amarillo in 1949 for its reputation of junior heavyweight wrestlers.
Funk was superintendent at Boys Ranch for three years where he added football coach and the wrestling mat to his duties. Funk schooled sons, Junior and Terry, on wrestling know-how, and in the 1960s they joined him on a regional circuit that stretched from Amarillo to El Paso to San Angelo to Colorado Springs. Funk also had a weekly TV wrestling show that was popular in the Panhandle.
Member of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, Funk was known as the King of the Texas Death Matches (he was 250-0) and won numerous titles, including the North American and Western State championships.
Dory Funk Sr. died June 3, 1973.
