Friday, August 24, 2012
Sports News

Fulscher and Klemm of Lincoln among 7 Illinoisans to be honored by National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Send a link to a friend

[August 24, 2012]  This year the National Wrestling Hall of Fame - Illinois Chapter will induct the following people into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame: Dan Fulscher, Lincoln; Dave Klemm, Lincoln-Decatur; Tom Porter, Urbana-Mahomet; Marty Williams, Mahomet-Yorkville; and Mark Johnson, Champaign-Rock Island -- all as Lifetime Achievement Award winners; and Outstanding American award winner Mark Mestemacher of Edwardsville and Medal of Courage award winner Mike Powell of Oak Park-River Forest.

Bios for the Lincoln honorees are available below.

The awards banquet will be on Oct. 21, starting at 3 p.m., at the Holiday Inn by the Airport in Bloomington. The award winners will receive a plaque and a jacket from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame of Stillwater, Okla., and each winner's name will be engraved on a bar to be displayed at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Description of awards:

  • Lifetime Service to Wrestling -- Given in recognition of years of dedication to the development of leadership and citizenship in youth through the sport of wrestling.

  • Outstanding American -- Given to former wrestlers who are highly successful and use the disciplines learned in wrestling in their professions.

  • Medal of Courage -- Presented to a wrestler or former wrestler who has overcome what appear to be insurmountable challenges.

On the electing committee were Dave Gannaway, Mackinaw, co-chairman; Mike Manahan, Bloomington, co-chairman; Jim Bowers, Bloomington; Don Devine, Crystal Lake; Ed Ewoldt, Wheaton; Larry Gassen, Downers Grove; Thomas Heniff, Olympia Fields; Randall Konstans, North Aurora; Ken Kraft, Evanston, chairman emeritus; Jack Leese, Chicago; Jeff Pape, Schaumburg; Joseph Pedersen, Naperville; and Sandy Stevens, Glen Ellyn.

To attend the awards banquet or for more information, contact Dave Gannaway at dgannaway13@yahoo.com or visit
http://nwhof.org/illinois/.

___

Hall of Fame - Illinois Chapter
Lincoln nominees

Dan Fulscher

Dan Fulscher, a four-year wrestler for Lincoln Community High School under Floyd Bee, was a Big 12 Conference champion who set several team records. He is an Illinois Wrestling Coaches & Officials Association Hall of Famer and a National Wrestling Hall of Fame - Illinois Chapter Lifetime Service Award honoree.

Fulscher has completed 37 years of IHSA officiating, including 34 regional and 30 sectional assignments and 30 state individual and dual team finals, to date the second-most of Illinois officials. He has also worked 16 IESA state finals, twice as head referee; officiated two Illinois All-Star Duals and seven Illinois/Indiana Classic Duals; refereed at four Prairie State Games; and worked five years as an NCAA Division I official.

The Illinois Wrestling Coaches & Officials Association twice honored Fulscher with its "Friends of Illinois Wrestling" award and named him Official of the Year in 1994. He served as IWCOA president for two years, helping to implement the separation of the IWCOA All-State and Hall of Fame award banquets. An IWCOA board member for 21 years, he also helped establish the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award.

[to top of second column]

Fulscher was named the National Federation of High Schools Official of the Year in 1997 and 2003. He is the first official in any sport to serve two terms on the IHSA's Officials Advisory Board. He has also served as the IHSA's clinician since 1998 and is a past officials' representative to the IESA Advisory Board.

Named the 2003 IWOCA Man of the Year, Fulscher was inducted into the group's Hall of Fame in 2000 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award this spring. He has served as a grand marshal for the IESA state tournament, the IHSA Individual State Finals and the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation.

Fulscher also served 25 years on the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District, including five as chief. Currently, he serves as Logan County 911/EMA director. He was named the county's Citizen of the Year and the Rotary Club's Vocation Award winner.

Dave Klemm

Dave Klemm began his career at Lincoln Community High School, competing for Hall of Famer Floyd Bee. Klemm earned all-state third-team honors for football and was a two-time state qualifier in wrestling, placing third his senior year. In 1976, he won the AAU Junior Nationals and the U.S. Wrestling Federation championship.

Klemm continued his wrestling career at Eastern Illinois University for Hall of Famer Ron Clinton and was named Frosh of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News. At Eastern he tallied a record of 129-23, earning NCAA Division II all-American honors three times: placing third and second and winning the championship. He was also a runner-up in the Division I tournament. Klemm finished fourth in the Midlands and was one of the few to ever defeat Bruce Baumgarter, America's only four-time Olympic medalist, at any level. Klemm also competed in the World Championships for the USA.

Klemm's coaching career began in 1980 as an assistant for two years at Eastern Illinois University. He was an assistant at Oklahoma for two years, an assistant at the University of Illinois for three years and then returned to Eastern for two years while he also earned his master's degree. He became the head coach at MacMurray College, serving from 1989-91, and in 1991 became the head coach at Lincoln College. At Lincoln, he has produced 41 national qualifiers and 18 all-Americans, including three champions. He was voted Regional Coach of the Year in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and was voted National Junior College Coach of the Year in 1996.

Klemm has been inducted into the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame, Lincoln Community High School Hall of Fame and the IWCOA Hall of Fame.

[Text from file received]

< Sports index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor