Wrestling Hall of Fame celebrates 40th birthday with grand re-opening and unveiling of inductee plaques
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
The Hall of Fame Class of 2016 poses together on Friday night, in the new John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors. Photo by Larry Slater.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame had a fantastic 40th birthday party, with the grand re-opening in its Stillwater, Okla. location to kick off the 40th Honors weekend.
After months of construction and years of planning, the renovated facility was opened to the public for the first time during the annual unveiling of the plaques for its Class of 2016 inductees.
The Hall of Fame plaques for Distinguished Members Brandon Slay, Carlton Haselrig, William B. Harlow and the late Dick Wilson were unveiled, as well as the special award winners during the annual Friday night social. A large crowd of family, friends and wrestling supporters came out to help christen the new Hall of Fame facility, which went through a complete $3.5 million complete renovation and upgrade.
“What a special occasion it is for the Class of 2016 to get to christen the new facility,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Lee Roy Smith. “What a facility it is. No doubt about it. The Board of Governors and the Governors Associates are the leaders along with the staff here that really make this place rock. What a great job they do.”
Chairman of the Board of Governors Terry Schockley praised the Board of Governors, the Governors Associates and the leaders from 37 Hall of Fame state chapters who were in attendance during this special occasion.
“I’d like to recognize three people who have helped us navigate the way through this construction. They were the brains behind the day-to-day work. The folks spent countless hours and attended to all the details of the construction. Without them, we wouldn’t have gotten it don,e” said Shockley, who presented special awards to Board of Governors members Bob Buckley and Tom Talbot and Hall of Fame staff member Krista Graff.
Buckley gave the attendees a summary of how the construction and redesign process were completed.
The emcee for the plaque presentation, Order of Merit winner Sandy Stevens, led the guests to new areas of the Hall of Fame where the honorees will be recognized.
The Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award winner Katie Brock and Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner Mark Hall II were recognized and saw their displays in the High School Excellence Award section of the new interactive zone of the Hall.
All of the other honorees were recognized in the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors, which was moved to the entire other end of the Hall of Fame footprint from where it was in the past.
The displays for the special award winners were unveiled along with the recipients, including the Distinguished Official Marcia Haise, the Order of Merit winner Ron Good, the Medal of Courage winner Randy Bortles and the Outstanding American Joseph Galli, Jr.
The four Distinguished Members were also presented with their plaques. Brandon Slay and William Harlow were there for their ceremony. Carlton Haselrig was not able to attend tonight, and had his uncle in his place, but Haselrig will be here on Saturday for the Banquet. The late Dick Wilson was represented by his son Bruce Wilson.
Many pictures were taken of the plaque ceremonies, but even more were taken of the new Hall of Fame facility and its many new features, as the wrestling community had their first chance to celebrate the modernization of the sport’s shrine.
The induction ceremony will be held Saturday night at OSU Student Union, starting at 6 p.m. with a reception in French Lounge, followed by the 40th Honors Banquet in Student Union Ballroom.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame had a fantastic 40th birthday party, with the grand re-opening in its Stillwater, Okla. location to kick off the 40th Honors weekend.
After months of construction and years of planning, the renovated facility was opened to the public for the first time during the annual unveiling of the plaques for its Class of 2016 inductees.
The Hall of Fame plaques for Distinguished Members Brandon Slay, Carlton Haselrig, William B. Harlow and the late Dick Wilson were unveiled, as well as the special award winners during the annual Friday night social. A large crowd of family, friends and wrestling supporters came out to help christen the new Hall of Fame facility, which went through a complete $3.5 million complete renovation and upgrade.
“What a special occasion it is for the Class of 2016 to get to christen the new facility,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Lee Roy Smith. “What a facility it is. No doubt about it. The Board of Governors and the Governors Associates are the leaders along with the staff here that really make this place rock. What a great job they do.”
Chairman of the Board of Governors Terry Schockley praised the Board of Governors, the Governors Associates and the leaders from 37 Hall of Fame state chapters who were in attendance during this special occasion.
“I’d like to recognize three people who have helped us navigate the way through this construction. They were the brains behind the day-to-day work. The folks spent countless hours and attended to all the details of the construction. Without them, we wouldn’t have gotten it don,e” said Shockley, who presented special awards to Board of Governors members Bob Buckley and Tom Talbot and Hall of Fame staff member Krista Graff.
Buckley gave the attendees a summary of how the construction and redesign process were completed.
The emcee for the plaque presentation, Order of Merit winner Sandy Stevens, led the guests to new areas of the Hall of Fame where the honorees will be recognized.
The Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award winner Katie Brock and Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner Mark Hall II were recognized and saw their displays in the High School Excellence Award section of the new interactive zone of the Hall.
All of the other honorees were recognized in the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors, which was moved to the entire other end of the Hall of Fame footprint from where it was in the past.
The displays for the special award winners were unveiled along with the recipients, including the Distinguished Official Marcia Haise, the Order of Merit winner Ron Good, the Medal of Courage winner Randy Bortles and the Outstanding American Joseph Galli, Jr.
The four Distinguished Members were also presented with their plaques. Brandon Slay and William Harlow were there for their ceremony. Carlton Haselrig was not able to attend tonight, and had his uncle in his place, but Haselrig will be here on Saturday for the Banquet. The late Dick Wilson was represented by his son Bruce Wilson.
Many pictures were taken of the plaque ceremonies, but even more were taken of the new Hall of Fame facility and its many new features, as the wrestling community had their first chance to celebrate the modernization of the sport’s shrine.
The induction ceremony will be held Saturday night at OSU Student Union, starting at 6 p.m. with a reception in French Lounge, followed by the 40th Honors Banquet in Student Union Ballroom.
