National Wrestling Hall of Fame announces Distinguished Members and award honorees for 2008
December 17, 2007
STILLWATER, OKLA. - The National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum has announced the selection of the Class of 2008 Distinguished Members, as well as its special award honorees for the year.
They will be inducted during the Honors Weekend Banquet and Induction
Ceremony in Stillwater, Oklahoma, May 30-31, 2008. The event will mark
the 32nd anniversary Class of the Hall of Fame & Museum.
Four wrestling greats will be added as Distinguished Members in 2008. They are:
Ricky Bonomo of Harrisburg, Pa.
Mike Houck of Victoria, Minn.
Wayne Martin of Tulsa, Okla. (deceased)
Bobby Weaver of Easton, Pa.
Houck and Weaver made their mark within international wrestling. Weaver
was a gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 1984 Olympic Games in
Los Angeles, Calif. and was a 1979 World silver medalist. Houck was the
first U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Greco-Roman
Championships with his historic victory at the 1985 World Championships
in Kolbatn, Norway.
Bonomo and Martin were among the best collegiate wrestlers of their
eras, both winning three NCAA individual titles during their
illustrious careers. Bonomo captured three NCAA titles for Bloomsburg
University (1985-87). Martin was a three-time NCAA champion for the
Univ. of Oklahoma (1934-36), also winning the Outstanding Wrestler at
the 1936 NCAA Championships.
Additional honorees to be inducted during the 2008 Honors Weekend will be:
Outstanding American recipient Dan T. Cathy of Atlanta, Ga.
Order of Merit recipient Richard Small of Tulsa, Okla.
Medal of Courage recipient Dr. James V. Mastro of Bemidji, Minn.
Lifetime Achievement for Officials award recipient Jerry Wager of Las Vegas, Nev.
The Hall of Fame's Board of Governors approved these selections at its semi-annual meeting held in Las Vegas in December 2007.
“I want to thank our Board of Governors and the various screening and
selection committees involved in the six-month process that determines
our honorees for induction. This is another exceptional class of
inductees whose merits transcend our sport," said Lee Roy Smith,
Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum.
The four Distinguished Members were among the dominant athletes of their era.
Bonomo was the greatest wrestler in the history of Bloomburg
Univ., a Div. I program in Pennsylvania. For three straight years
(1985-87), Bonomo won all of the major events on the schedule,
capturing the NCAA Div. I title, along with the Eastern Wrestling
League (EWL) title and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
(PSAC) title at 118 pounds. He was named the EWL and PSAC Wrestler of
the Year all three of those seasons. Ricky’s career record was a
stellar 116-12-3. Ricky and his brother Rocky were the first twins to
win Pennsylvania state titles side-by-side in 36 years when they won
Class AA titles for Lake Lehman High in 1981, wrestling for the
legendary Floyd “Shorty” Hitchcock. Rocky was also an All-American for
Bloomsburg, making the Bonomo brothers the most feared lightweight
tandem in college wrestling at the time.
Houck made U.S. wrestling history in 1985, when he became the
first American Greco-Roman wrestler to win a gold medal at the World
Championships with his dramatic victory in Kolbatn, Norway. He competed
on three U.S. World Teams during his career, and won three U.S.
National titles. He also won an AAU National Greco-Roman title in 1981.
Twice, Houck placed second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. He competed
for Maranatha Baptist Bible College, winning two Christian College
National titles and three All-American honors. Houck worked as USA
Wrestling’s National Greco-Roman Coach from 1990-95. He coached the USA
to two individual medals at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Houck was a founder and coached for the U.S. Olympic Training Center
Greco-Roman Resident Program, which was created in 1993 and has become
internationally respected for developing champion athletes.
Martin won three NCAA titles for the Univ. of Oklahoma,
competing for Coach Paul Keen. He was the first three-time NCAA
champion in Sooner history, and the first athlete to win NCAA Div. I
wrestling titles in three different weight classes. Martin was the
134-pound champion in 1934, the 145-pound champion in 1935 and the
135-pound champion in 1936, winning the Outstanding Wrestler as a
senior. He was a three-time Big Six champion and had a career record of
39-2 with 21 falls. Martin won two Oklahoma state high school titles
for Tulsa Central under its legendary coach Art Griffith. His son
Mickey was a two-time NCAA champion, and they were the only father-son
combination to win NCAA Outstanding Wrestler awards, when Mickey was
honored in 1963. Wayne was also a coach for Elk City High School for a
number of years and was inducted into the Helms Hall of Fame in 1962.
Weaver was one of the nation’s greatest lightweight freestyle
wrestlers ever, capped off with his gold-medal victory at the 1984
Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. He was one of seven U.S. freestyle
champions in Los Angeles, competing under Dan Gable. Weaver also
qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, which did not compete in the
Moscow Olympics due to the U.S. government boycott. He was a silver
medalist at the 1979 World Championships and fifth at the 1983 World
Championships. Weaver won World Cup titles in 1980 and 1984, and was a
1977 Junior World silver medalist. Weaver won four AAU National titles
and two USWF national titles. He competed at Lehigh Univ., where he was
third in the 1982 NCAA Championships. Weaver won three Pennsylvania
state titles for Easton High School (1975-77) and was a Prep School
national champion for Blair Academy.
The special honorees represent tremendous achievements both within wrestling and in society.
Business giant Dan T. Cathy will be inducted as a 2008
Outstanding American, which honors past wrestlers for their success in
other walks of life. Since 2001, Cathy has served as the President and
Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A, one of the nation’s largest
family owned businesses. Cathy has led the Atlanta-based quick-service
chicken restaurant chain to continued success in the industry. The
chain was founded by his father S. Truett Cathy, and Dan participated
in the business throughout his life. He also served as director of
operations, senior director of operations, vice president of
operations, and executive vice president before assuming his current
duties. In his quest to provide customers with “2nd Mile Service”
(exceeding even the highest expectations of a typical fast-food
restaurant), Dan has defined a special role for himself – humbly
saying, “I work in customer service.”
Dan and his brother Donald “Bubba” Cathy were high school state
champions for the Woodward Academy. Dan won the state title at 119
pounds in 1971 and had a 40-4 record his last two years. He later
wrestled for Furman University. For 20 years, Chick-fil-A and the Cathy
family sponsored the state wrestling awards banquet.
The 2008 Order of Merit, given for contributions that further the sport
and elected by Hall of Fame Distinguished Members, goes to Richard P. Small,
a former wrestler and successful businessman who has been a leader
within the sport. Small was high school wrestler in Illinois, and a
member of the legendary 1947 Cornell College team which won both the
NCAA and AAU team championships. He was a Midwest Conference champion
for Cornell.
His corporate business career included serving as chairman and CEO for
Cheker Oil Company, as well as president/CEO for Tri-Star Aerospace.
Small has served many years on the Board of Governors of the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. His leadership has helped the Hall
of Fame to raise substantial funds to expand its facility, exhibits,
and endowment fund. He remains the most benevolent benefactor of
all-time to his alma-mater at Cornell College.
The 2008 Medal of Courage recipient is Dr. James Mastro, who has
been blind since birth, has been an outstanding wrestler and athlete,
along with a lifetime of achievement in education and community work.
He is a tenured full professor of professional education and physical
education at Bemidji State University. Mastro is the first individual
with a visual impairment to earn a Ph. D. in physical education in the
United States. As a tenured full professor at Bemidji State, Dr. Mastro
has authored or co-authored 47 published articles and 26 national and
international presentations on adapted and developmental physical
education for state and national organizations as well as athletes with
disabilities. He is past president of the National Beep Baseball
Association and was a member of the USABA Board of Directors.
Mastro was a varsity wrestler at Augsburg College from 1968-73, winning
a conference title. He also became nationally ranked in Greco-Roman. He
won a bronze medal at the AAU Senior Greco-Roman Nationals, and
qualified to compete in U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 1972 and 1976. He
won numerous medals competing in goalball, judo, track and field, and
wrestling in the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) National
Championships. In 1995, he was named U.S. Olympic Committee Blind
Athlete of the Year. Mastro was chosen flagbearer for the United States
Paralympics Team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He won a gold medal
at the 1995 World Judo Championships for the Blind. Mastro has been a
wrestling coach since 1970, coaching on the youth, middle school, and
high school levels.
The winner of the Lifetime Achievement for Officials award goes to veteran international wrestling official Jerry Wager,
who also had a distinguished coaching career. Wager was a Mid-American
Conference champion at Toledo University, and competed in the 1956 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials in Greco-Roman. He was a coach with the Las Vegas
YMCA from 1970-1980 and also coached seven age-group World
Championships teams for the USA. Wager was a college wrestling official
from 1960-1963 and was also the head official for the Southern Nevada
High School program from 1963-66.
His major achievements were on the international level, where he was a
FILA Referee from 1962-1998. Wager officiated in over 50 major
international meets, including the World Championships, Junior World
Championships, Pan American Championships, and European Championships.
Wager was the first U.S. official selected as a mat chairman, when he
worked the 1985 World Greco-Roman Championships in Norway. He was head
official for the World Police and Fire Games for 10 years. Wager was
recognized as a FILA Lifetime Exceptionelle Referee, and was presented
with the FILA Gold Medal. He also won national Official of the Year and
Coach of the Year awards and served as National YMCA Wrestling Chairman
for 10 years.
The final award to be presented at Honors Weekend 2008, the Dave
Schultz High School Excellence Award, will be announced later in the
spring.