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3253740511810For Immediate ReleaseNational Wrestling Hall of Fame to Honor Colorado’s Henry Cejudo as a 2018 Distinguished MemberSTILLWATER, Okla. – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2018 inductees are Distinguished Members Stephen Abas, Lee Allen, Henry Cejudo and Kristie Davis, Meritorious Official Gary Kessel, Order of Merit recipient Nancy Schultz Vitangeli, Medal of Courage recipient Michael Martinez and Outstanding American honoree Randy Couture. Allen will be inducted posthumously as he passed away in 2012 at the age of 77. The induction ceremony will be held at the 42nd Annual Honors Weekend on June 1-2, 2018 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For more information on Honors Weekend, please telephone (405) 377-5243.Kristie Davis becomes only the second woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member, joining four-time World Champion and women’s wrestling pioneer Tricia Saunders, who was inducted in 2006. The Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding high school senior girls for their excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship, and community service.“The Class of 2018 is an amazing group of people who have made a tremendous and extremely positive impact on our sport,” said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “We are excited to be inducting our second female Distinguished Member, Kristie Davis, and to recognize Lee Allen, who played a significant role in the development and growth of women’s wrestling. We are so excited to honor another group that has not only contributed to our sport, but who embodies what wrestling can do to help you excel in life.”Abas, Cejudo and Davis were chosen as Distinguished Members for the Modern Era while Allen was selected by the Veterans Committee. The Hall of Fame has inducted 188 Distinguished Members since it began in 1976. Distinguished Members can be a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in national and/or international competition; a coach who has demonstrated great leadership in the profession and who has compiled an outstanding record; or a contributor whose long-term activities have substantially enhanced the development and advancement of the sport.Henry Cejudo was 21 years old when he won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2008, becoming the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in United States history. Kyle Snyder broke Cejudo’s record in 2016 when he captured a gold medal at the Olympics as a 20 year old. Cejudo won the Pan American Championships three times, and competed in the World Championships in 2007. Cejudo was a two-time U.S. Open champion, who became the first high school wrestler to win the U.S. Nationals in freestyle since USA Wrestling became the sport’s national governing body in 1983. He won a pair of state high school championships in Arizona before moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to become a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He won Colorado state high school championships as a junior and senior, and was named ASICS National High School Wrestler of the Year in 2006. Cejudo is currently competing in mixed martial arts and is the UFC’s No. 2 ranked flyweight.Stephen Abas was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion and a four-time All-American for Fresno State University, winning titles in 1999, 2001 and 2002 after finishing fourth as a freshman in 1998. He won a silver medal at the Olympics in 2004 and competed in the World Championships in 2001 and 2003. He was also qualified for the World Championships in 2002, but the United States did not compete. Abas was named to the NCAA’s 75th Anniversary Wrestling Team in 2005 in the lightweight division, along with current Distinguished Members Tom Brands (2001), Dan Gable (1980), John Smith (1997) and Yojiro Uetake Obata (1980). He had a career college record of 144-4-0 and did not lose a match at 125 pounds. Abas concluded his college career with 95 consecutive wins, including a 35-0 record as a senior and a 34-0 record as a junior, while setting the school record for career wins with 144 wins and career winning percentage with 97.3 percent. He was named the Fresno State Male Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and is currently the freestyle coach at the Valley Region Training Center in Fresno, California.Lee Allen?was one of only four wrestlers to represent the United States at the Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, competing in freestyle in 1956 and finishing eighth in Greco-Roman in 1960. He was a member of the first United States team to compete in the World Championships, placing sixth in freestyle in 1961. Allen was a four-time undefeated Oregon state champion for Sandy High School in Sandy, Oregon, and competed in college at Portland State from 1952-54. Allen was the head coach of the 1980 Olympic Greco-Roman team, which did not compete in the Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union, because of the U.S. government boycott of the Games. He was an assistant coach for the United States Greco-Roman team at the Olympics in 1972 and 1976. He was head coach of four United States Greco-Roman teams at the World Championships in 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979. The 1979 team finished fourth with three individual medalists, which was one of the best Greco-Roman performances of the time period. Allen and his wife, Joan Fulp, were instrumental in the development and growth of women’s wrestling in?California and the United States. He led the men’s wrestling program at Skyline College in California for 32 years while incorporating a women’s program. ?His San Francisco?Peninsula Grapplers?women's?team won the?senior national championships?in 1997 and 1999. Allen was head coach of the women’s wrestling team at Menlo College in California from 2001 to 2010 where he coached both of his daughters, Sara Fulp-Allen?Bahoura?and Katherine?Fulp-Allen?Shai. Sara was the first three-time women’s college national champion, and an injury prevented her from competing as a senior to try and become the first four-time champion. Katherine was a World University champion and five-time national team member.?Lee?received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011 and from the California Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. He is a member of the AAU Hall of Fame, the San Mateo County Sport Hall of Fame, Skyline College Hall of Fame, California Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Portland State University Hall of Fame.Kristie Davis has won nine World medals which ties her with Bruce Baumgartner for the most World medals in United States history. The Albany, New York native holds the American records in women's freestyle for most world teams, most medals, and most finals appearances. Davis competed in 10 World Championships and was a seven-time finalist, winning gold medals in 2000 and 2003 and silver medals in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2007. She captured bronze medals in 2002 and 2006. Davis helped the United States capture the World Championship team title in 1999, which is the first and only American women’s team to accomplish the feat. She was named Women's Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling five times (1998, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2007), which is more than any other wrestler since the award began in 1993. Davis was a nine-time U.S. Open champion who competed in four Olympic Trials, placing second once and third twice. She was a four-time University Nationals champion, and won two Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association national championships for Oklahoma City University. Davis also competed as Kristie Stenglein, which is her maiden name, and as Kristie Marano, which was her first married name. She was named co-head women’s wrestling coach at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia, on Monday, where she will be working alongside her husband, Link Davis.###The Meritorious Official award recognizes outstanding service as a referee, judge, or pairing official.In 40 years of officiating, Gary Kessel has refereed 16 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, including 12 finals, and eight NCAA Division III Championships, including eight finals. He has officiated 21 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships and 18 Virginia Duals while also refereeing nine National Duals and four National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star matches. Kessel has also refereed 39 New Jersey state high school wrestling championships, including 11 finals, and has officiated 15 national high school tournaments. He has been president of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Officials Association, the oldest and largest wrestling organization in the country, since 2010, and has worked as a rules interpreter for the state of New Jersey and the Eastern Wrestling League. He serves as the secretary/treasurer for the National Wrestling Officials Association and also chairs the organization’s education committee while also serving on the executive board of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Kessel was honored as the New Jersey Official of the Year in 2007 and received the Richard Mirshak award for dedication, service and contributions to wrestling in 2015. He received the Vincent Russo Golden Whistle award in 2016 and was presented the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the New Jersey Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017. Kessel was inducted into the East Stroudsburg University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995, and is also a member of the Hopatcong, New Jersey, High School Hall of Fame.###The Order of Merit is presented to an individual that has made a significant contribution to the sport of wrestling, but who is not an athlete or a coach.Nancy Schultz Vitangeli has been involved in wrestling since meeting Dave Schultz when the two were attending the University of Oklahoma. They were married in 1982 and were together until 1996 when the Olympic and World champion was killed by John du Pont. Following his death, Schultz Vitangeli founded the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club which sponsored 20 displaced athletes from Team Foxcatcher, providing them with training and coaching resources through the 1996 Olympics. The Dave Schultz Wrestling Club continued until 2005 and trained athletes in men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman, including Olympic gold medalists and Distinguished Members Kurt Angle and Brandon Slay, Olympic bronze medalist Patricia Miranda, and two-time NCAA Champion, World Champion and Distinguished Member Stephen Neal. Schultz Vitangeli helped begin the Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017, which annually hosts World and Olympic class athletes. She also helped create the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 1996, an award that is presented annually by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame to top high school wrestlers based on wrestling, scholastic achievement and citizenship. Schultz Vitangeli worked with ASICS to promote the Dave Schultz wrestling shoes, and helped facilitate the Dave Schultz video anthology series, featuring techniques used in competition by Dave from 1986 to 1995. She is a partner at RUDIS, a sports apparel company dedicated to the sport of wrestling and a preferred apparel provider for the Hall of Fame. Schultz Vitangeli is a Governor’s Associate for the Hall of Fame and an honorary board member for USA Wrestling, and served as honorary co-chairperson for “Wrestling for the Next Millennium,” a capital campaign designed to ensure that the oldest sport thrives in the 21st century and beyond. She served as executive producer for “Team Foxcatcher,” an Emmy Award nominated documentary that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and became one of Netflix’s most popular selections. Schultz Vitangeli was a consultant on the Oscar nominated major motion picture “Foxcatcher” starring Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum and Steve Carrell. She was named Woman of the Year by USA Wrestling in 1998 and was co-chair of USA Wrestling’s Foundation Gala in 2016. Schultz Vitangeli was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 and received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the California Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. ###The Medal of Courage recipient is a wrestler or former wrestler who has overcome what appear to be insurmountable challenges, providing inspiration to others.Michael Martinez, who received the Medal of Courage from the Hall of Fame’s Colorado Chapter in 2016, was a 2003 and 2004 Colorado state champion for Pagosa Springs High School. He won his first state title as a junior despite wrestling an abbreviated schedule due to a compound ankle fracture. In December of his senior year, the Martinez family’s home burned to the ground; yet he won another state championship.?After enrolling at the University of Wyoming in 2008, Martinez posted a record of 116-43, won three Western Wrestling Conference championships and qualified for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships four times. Earning a degree in range ecology and watershed management, he also wrestled in the 2012 Olympic Trials, losing to eventual Olympic team member Sam Hazewinkel.?On April 2, 2013, while working on his family’s 236-acre ranch, located outside Pagosa Springs, Colorado, Martinez chose to stay in a motor home on the property, eliminating a 40-minute drive and giving him an opportunity to begin work early the next day. During the night as he lit a match, the propane stove burst into a fireball that covered his body. ?Martinez drove to the home of his uncle, who called 911, but due to the home’s location and the roads, the ambulance took 30 minutes to arrive.? Because second- and third-degree burns covered over 80 percent of Martinez’ body, however, the EMTs summoned a medical helicopter to fly their patient 45 minutes to the University of New Mexico Hospital burn unit in Albuquerque.?Martinez’ parents, Barbara and Jody, were told that he could be in the hospital for up to three months, as patients typically stay one day for each percent of their body that was burned. Martinez underwent surgery to graft skin onto his hands while beginning to achieve benchmarks on his way to recovery. ?Two weeks after the accident, Martinez’s high school coach, Dan Janowsky, visited the hospital. Janowsky recounted that he didn’t see the usual spark that was always present in Martinez’s eyes, so he showed Martinez a video of Janowsky’s son wrestling, and Martinez’s eyes lit up. Following the coach’s visit, Martinez seemed revived and continued his rehabilitation, surprising medical professionals when he left the hospital to return home after only 21 days.?Martinez stayed at his parents’ house, and after needing 24/7 assistance for the first few weeks, he became more self-sufficient. Doctors said that he would need physical therapy, particularly for his hands and fingers. Martinez had no health insurance, so he became his own physical therapist and began playing his guitar. Six weeks later at a follow-up visit, the doctor commended him on his recovery.?Once given clearance, he began light exercise and resumed running. His body continued to heal, and by the summer of 2013, Martinez was surveying land and working again on the family’s ranch. Janowsky invited Martinez to help him with the wrestling team at his alma mater, and Martinez soon was working on the mat and began holding open mat workouts at 6 a.m., attended by most of the wrestlers. In the spring of 2014, Pagosa Springs had its first individual state champion since 2009. ?Martinez got married in February of 2017, and he and his wife, Kathleen, have four children – Ethan (14), Chandler (12), Olivia (11) and Hudson (9). He continues to work for Davis Engineering as well as helping on the family ranch and assisting with the high school wrestling team.###Past recipients of the Outstanding American honor have included individuals who have excelled in science, technology, business, industry, government, military, and arts and humanities.Randy Couture wrestled at Lynnwood High School in Lynnwood, Washington, and was a Washington state champion as a senior. After graduating high school, he served six years in the United States Army from 1982-88, and attained the rank of sergeant in the 101st Airborne. Couture then attended Oklahoma State where he was a three-time All-American, finishing sixth in 1990 and second in 1991 and 1992 while helping the Cowboys win the team title in 1990 and finish second in 1991 and 1992. He was a National Wrestling Coaches Association First-Team Academic All-American in 1991 and 1992, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in foreign language and literature.Couture wrestled at the World Championships in Greco-Roman in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997, when he finished ninth, and was an Olympic team alternate in 1988, 1992 and 1996 and a semifinalist at the Olympic Trials in 2000. He was a six-time UFC world champion and was the only competitor to hold titles in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. Couture became the fourth fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted into the Oklahoma State College of Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 2016. As an actor he has appeared in the hit films “The Expendables,” “The Expendables 2,” and the “Expendables 3,” opposite Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis, as well as on television. He recently completed filming “Alpha Code,” a science-fiction film, and “Row,” a murder mystery.Couture has his own chain of gyms, Xtreme Couture MMA, and a clothing line, Xtreme Couture MMA Clothing. He also founded and runs the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation, which raises awareness and financially supports wounded veterans. Couture teamed with Jay Glazer of Fox Sports and Green Beret and NFL player Nate Boyer to create Merging Vets and Players (MVP), which is a program designed to address challenges that many combat veterans and professional athletes face when transitioning their service/professional life towards a new mission in their civilian life.?He and Glazer also created MMAthletics, which trains professional athletes from various sports in the ways of mixed martial arts and how that training can be applied to their respective sports.National Wrestling Hall of Fame & MuseumAmerica’s shrine to the sport of wrestling, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976 to honor the sport of wrestling, preserve its history, recognize extraordinary individual achievements, and inspire future generations. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame has museums in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Waterloo, Iowa. The Stillwater, Oklahoma, location reopened in June 2016 following a $3.8 million renovation and now features interactive exhibits and electronic kiosks, as well as the opportunity to watch NCAA Championship matches from the 1930s to present day. It also has the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors where the greatest names in wrestling are recognized, including iconic granite plaques presented to Distinguished Members since the Hall of Fame opened in 1976. The museum has the largest collection of wrestling artifacts and memorabilia in the world, including the most collegiate and Olympic wrestling uniforms. Wrestling truly is for everyone and the diversity and accessibility of the sport continues to be highlighted through exhibits featuring females, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latino Americans. There is also a library featuring historical documents, including NCAA guides and results, as well as books on the sport. For more information about the Hall of Fame, please visit .For more information:Jack Carnefix, Operations Manager, National Wrestling Hall of Fame405-377-5243JCarnefix@ ................
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