Gene Mills
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| Born | September 28, 1958 (age 66) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Syracuse University Club Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gene Mills (born September 28, 1958) is an American freestyle wrestler and wrestling coach. Mills and Leroy Kemp were key members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team. He won the gold medal at the 1980 World Super Championships in Japan, where he wrestled in the 52 kilogram weight class.
Early career
Raised in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, Mills wrestled for DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, New Jersey, where he won a state title.[1][2] He wrestled collegiately for Syracuse University where he was a four time All-American and won twice the NCAA Championship in 1979, 1981.[3] Mills earned a B.A. in psychology in 1981 and his master's in physical education from Syracuse University in 1998.[2]
Highlight achievements
Career accomplishments include:[4][5][3]
- Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, inducted 2000.
- AAU Outstanding Freestyle Wrestler in 1980 and 1982.
- U.S. Olympian and voted the "Athlete of the Year" by the US Olympic Committee in 1980.[6]
- Member of the 1985 U.S. World Team.[7]
- Two-time NCAA Division I Champion and voted the Outstanding Wrestler.
- Three-time World Cup Champion.
- 1980 Tbilisi International Tournament Winner and voted the Outstanding Wrestler after pinning each of his opponents, USSR (оne American coach summed up the Tbilisi International Tournament as "probably five times as tough" as the Olympics).[8][9]
- 1980 World Superсhampionships Winner and voted the Outstanding Wrestler, Japan.
- 1979 Pan American Games Champion, Puerto Rico.
Mills posted a career record of 1,356-45-1 with 866 of his wins won by fall. He beat the strongest wrestlers in three weight categories:
- men's freestyle 52 kg. Mills defeated the reigning Olympic champion and World champion Anatoly Beloglazov, the 1984 Olympic champion Bobby Weaver.[10][11][12]
- men's freestyle 57 kg. Mills defeated the three-time European champion and the World Championships medalist Stefan Ivanov (USA vs Bulgaria Dual).[13]
- men's freestyle 65 kg. At the 1985 Midlands Tournament, Mills defeated Kevin Dresser, the best U.S. wrestler in this weight class. Mills is the 1985 Midlands Tournament Champion and voted the Outstanding Wrestler.[14][15]
In 1980, Mills was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, but the boycott of the 1980 Olympics by the United States deprived him of the opportunity to win an Olympic gold medal.
Coaching
After college he served as an assistant coach at Syracuse University for 16 seasons, ending with a record of 147-81-4. He also served as a head coach for the Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club and U.S. Wrestling team from 1985 to 1991. Mills went on to become camp director of the Syracuse University Big Orange Wrestling School in 1986. He also coaches at Phoenix high school.[3][16]
References
- ^ "Mills, Catalfo pace Syracuse", The Record, February 2, 1981. Accessed June 16, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Former New Jersey State wrestling champions Gene Mills of Pompton Lakes and Tim Catalfo of Montvale helped lead Syracuse to a 19-16 college wrestling victory over Navy yesterday. Mills, a former DePaul High School standout and an All-American for the Orangemen last year, pinned Doug Heinmbach in the 118-pound bout."
- ^ a b "NYAC to honor wrestling legend 'Mean' Gene Mills". Syracuse NY Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ a b c "Gene Mills". Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ "Gene Mills". NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME.
- ^ "Gene Mills". UWW.
- ^ "Olympic team history". USA Wrestling.
- ^ "Gene Mills and Ed Banach to go 'On the Mat' this week". USA Wrestling.
- ^ "Kenny Monday". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
- ^ All about freestyle wrestling (in Russian). Vladikavkaz: Project-Press. 1997.
- ^ "It's been 15 years since Syracuse's wrestling program folded and Gene Mills is trying to bring it back". Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ 1981 Worldcup - Gene Mills vs Anatoli Beloglazov. YouTube (Documentary). Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ 1981 EIWA Championship Mean Gene Mills vs Olympic Champion Bobby Weaver. YouTube (Documentary). Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ Gene vs Bulgarian World Runner up. YouTube (Documentary). Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ "Year by Year at the Midlands" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ 1985 Midlands Tournament Gene Mills vs Kevin Dresser. YouTube (Documentary). Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ "Gene Mills". Section III Wrestling Hall of Fame Member.