STILLWATER, OK--The National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum has announced its Class of 2003, and it includes 39th-year North Dakota State head coach Bucky Maughan.
Maughan will be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame during Honors Weekend on June 7 in Stillwater, OK, with one other coach and a pair of former wrestlers. He is already a member of the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame (1997).
Here are the bios of the 2003 inductees...
Bucky Maughan is a legend in the wrestling circles. He has guided North Dakota State to four national championships, including three of the last five. His squads have won 77 percent of their dual matches and the Bison have been a constant national power. In all, Maughan's teams have 30 finishes in the nation's top ten, and 25 finishes in the top five. He was recently named one of the Top 10 All-Time College Wrestling Coaches in a poll taken by Wrestling USA Magazine. Maughan has contributed to the sport of wrestling in many capacities, serving as host for the USA Wrestling Junior Tournament and the Cadet Nationals for nine years. He is a past member of the executive committee of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and is a past president of the NCAA Division II Coaches Association. A former Moorhead State University wrestler, Maughan won the 1962 NAIA championship. He repeated in 1963, winning the NAIA championship title and the NCAA Division I championship crown the same season.
Nate Carr's wrestling career got off to a good start when he posted an astonishing 115-7 record at Erie Tech, including a Pennsylvania state title. In the collegiate ranks Carr proved himself able to compete on the national level. He was a three-time NCAA champion for Iowa State University (1981-83) in the 150 pound weight class. Carr also captured two Big Eight titles and was a two-time participant in the All-Star Classic in 1981 and 1982. Upon graduating from Iowa State in 1983, he embarked on an outstanding international career. Carr was victimized by a judge's error which cost him a chance at advancing to the gold medal round and he had to settle for a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics. He was on the 1983 and 1990 World Championship teams. He won the 1986 World Cup Championship and the 1986 Pan-American Championship. Carr was a three-time U.S. National Freestyle Champion and won the 1990 Goodwill Games Championship. He was recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation while he was coaching at West Virginia University.
Kevin Jackson won two Michigan state high school championships at Lansing Eastern High School. He then attended and wrestled for Louisiana State University where he was a three time All-American. When LSU dropped its wrestling program, Jackson transferred to Iowa State University and was a 1987 NCAA runner-up as a senior. Jackson's career took a huge jump after college. He was a 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist and won the 1991 and 1995 World Championships. He is a three- time World Cup Champion and a two-time Pan-American Games Champion. Jackson was named the USA Wrestling Freestyler of the Year in 1995, the 1992 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year and the 1991 U.S. Olympic Committee Wrestler of the Year. Jackson was previously inducted into the Michigan Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. The latest phase of Kevin's wrestling career is as USA Wrestling's National Team Coach. He serves on the U.S. Olympic Committee's minority leader program (FLAME) and the Native American Sports Council.
Lou Giani stands today as the greatest high school wrestling coach in the history of New York state and one of the top high school coaches in the country. During the past season, his team at Huntington High School won the New York state tournament, making a total of eight team championships for Coach Giani. New York has 600 high school wrestling programs, but only one state tournament. His team competes in a region with 55 other schools. This past season three of his wrestlers won state titles, increasing his career total to 22 state champions ˆ an all-time New York state record. Giani's lifetime coaching mark in 34 seasons is 388-28-1. Giani has also contributed tremendously to the sport over the past half-century, developing youth wrestling programs for two large Long Island towns. He has organized cultural exchange programs with the Soviet Union and Poland, and provided the opportunity for many economically disadvantaged youngsters to wrestle. Giani's accomplishments as a wrestler are equally impressive. He did not start wrestling until he was a junior in high school and did not attend college until later in life. Giani won ten New York Athletic Club titles and more than 20 other tournament titles across the country. He won a gold medal at the 1959 Pan-American Games and respresented the USA on the 1960 Olympic Freestyle team.