Ex-OU wrestling coach faces domestic abuse charge

By James S. Tyree

Published: June 3, 2008

NORMAN — Stan Abel, a former wrestling coach at the University of Oklahoma, faces one felony charge of domestic abuse by strangulation in Cleveland County District Court.

A judge issued a warrant for his arrest Friday.

In an affidavit filed in district court, Abel, 71, was accused of putting his hands around the neck of his wife and repeatedly striking her after he returned to their Norman home at about 2:15 a.m. on May 21.

In a previous case, Abel pleaded guilty Feb. 7, 2007, to operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor, stemming from a Norman checkpoint arrest on Oct. 21, 2006. He received a one-year deferred sentence and was ordered to attend a certified DUI school.

Abel coached many OU wrestling teams to NCAA tournaments throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the 1974 team that won the national title. He was an individual national champion for the Sooners in 1959 and 1960.

He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 1990.