Submitted photo: Kent Osboe as a senior heavyweight member of the Fort Dodge wrestling squad in 1963-64.

AUSTIN, Minn. — Kent Osboe, a Fort Dodge wrestling state champion and Hall of Famer who became a star at the University of Northern Iowa, passed away earlier this month at the age of 78.

Osboe captured the 1964 Iowa High School heavyweight title for the Dodgers, graduating a few months later from FDSH and moving to Cedar Falls. He flourished as a Panther on the mat, earning two national crowns and garnering All-America honors three times.

Osboe, a native of Webster City, accumulated a career record of 67-9 with UNI from 1966-69, recording 35 falls. His NCAA Div. II golds came in 1968 and ’69.

“Oz” was the first heavyweight national champion in Northern Iowa program history. He also participated in the 1969 Div. I national meet, where he placed sixth in Provo, Utah.

Osboe earned three consecutive North Central Conference heavyweight titles for the Panthers, and didn’t drop a single NCC match in his entire collegiate career.

In 2000, Osboe was inducted into the NCAA Div. II Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The 1970 UNI graduate, who earned degrees there in both physical education and business, later moved back to Fort Dodge and taught for three years at St. Edmond High School. For most of his professional career, Osboe served as a production supervisor at Hormel Foods in Austin, Minn.

Osboe was inducted into the Northern Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

Osboe is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jane; children, Sarah (Warren) Polensky of Papillion, Neb. and Michael (Katie) Osboe of Sturgeon Lake, Minn.; four grandchildren and three siblings. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jimmie and June Osboe, and daughter in infancy, Elizabeth.

A public celebration of Osboe’s life will take place this coming spring, with the date and location to be determined.