FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Mike Clock, professor emeritus of mathematics at Pacific University and longtime head coach of the Boxer wrestling program, died July 25, 2026 in Vancouver, Washington, at the age of 90.

Clock joined the Pacific faculty in 1967 after several years as a high school teacher and coach. He retired from teaching in 2002, receiving faculty emeritus status after a 35-year career.

As Pacific's head wrestling coach from 1966 to 1988, and from 1991 to 1992, Clock established the Boxers as a small college power. In his 23 seasons, Clock led the Boxers to seven top-10 NAIA National Tournament finishes, topped by a fifth-place finish in 1982, six NAIA District II championships and 18 Northwest Conference titles, including 16 straight between 1970 and 1984, when the conference discontinued the sport.

As head coach, Clock mentored three national champions (Rick Franklin '78 in 1978, Ed Ritt '84 in 1982, and Chuck Ahsmuhs '90 in 1988), 37 NAIA All-Americans, 51 regional champions and over 100 conference champions.

Clock remained part of the Pacific wrestling program as an assistant coach from 1988 to 2003, helping the program successfully transition from NAIA to NCAA Division III membership. At the start of the Boxers' NCAA era, Clock assisted in leading the Boxers to Great Lakes Region titles in 1999, 2000 and 2002, and an eighth-place finish at the 1999 NCAA Division III Championships. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Pacific's ground-breaking women's wrestling program.

Clock also helped extend the reach of wrestling through international competition. As chair of the NAIA's Cultural Exchange Committee for 12 years, he led several teams of wrestlers, including many from Pacific, on exchange trips around the world.

At the time of his death, 11 wrestlers who Clock mentored as either a head coach or assistant coach had been inducted into the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame. Clock himself was named to Pacific's Hall of Fame in 1993.

Clock was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 for lifetime service to the sport. He was inducted into the Lewis & Clark College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, receiving the college's Lifetime Sport & Achievement Award. The Pacific Senior Open, the university's longtime season-opening tournament, was renamed the Mike Clock Open in 2003. Clock also received the Northwest Conference's Meritorious Service Award in 2003.
Clock was an Oregon state champion wrestler for Newberg High School, winning the 1953 state heavyweight title and helping lead the Tigers to the team championship. Collegiately, Clock was a three-time Northwest Conference champion for Lewis & Clark.

Clock graduated from Lewis & Clark in 1957. He received his master's from Oregon State University in 1961 and his doctorate from Oklahoma State University in 1967.
Before he arrived at Pacific, Clock taught math at both Tigard High School and Beaverton's Sunset High School. For three years, he served as the head wrestling coach at his alma mater, Lewis & Clark, where he coached Harold Weight to the 1965 NAIA wrestling national title.

As a Pacific faculty member, Clock served for many years as chair of the Math Department. He took three sabbaticals during his career, including one to Siberia.
In retirement, Clock's pastimes included traveling and wrestling. He helped promote the sport as a volunteer with Restore Oregon Wrestling, an organization dedicated to restoring wrestling programs at Oregon colleges.

Clock is survived by his brothers, Pat, Barry and Ken; his daughters, Kathryn Barlow and Mary; his sons, Thom and Paul; and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Carol, in 1980.

Services for Clock will be announced at a later date.

Oregon's Opportunity University, Pacific University is Washington County, Oregon's only comprehensive university, offering over 50 undergraduate majors and 28 graduate and professional degrees. With over 175 years of helping students discover their purpose, Pacific inspires its 3,400 students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in the world. The No. 1 private research institution in the Northwest, Pacific serves its communities through campuses in Forest Grove and Hillsboro, healthcare clinics throughout the Portland area and through 34,000 alumni pursuing lives of purpose globally.