National Wrestling Hall of Fame

only point scored against him). The final, against an American competing for Syria, lasted 61 seconds. Although he had never won a high school state championship, Bruce Baumgartner went on to become one of the most highly decorated and dominating wrestlers of the world. He started his quest for world dominance after three All-America seasons and an NCAA championship for Indiana State University. He won a bronze medal for the United States at the 1983 World Championship in Kiev, Russia. But it was at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games that the world began to take notice as he became the Olympic champion and America's first gold medalist in 60 years at super heavyweight. Perhaps the biggest statement made at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games was in Greco-Roman wrestling, where the USA claimed its first-ever gold medals. Leading the way for the USA were Steve Fraser and Jeff Blatnick. Curtain boycott tarnished the image of the Los Angeles Games, there was no dearth of talent in the 198-pound class of Greco- Roman wrestling. The favorite was Frank Andersson of Sweden, three-time World champion and six-time World medalist. But Fraser was armed with The Headlock, an awesome weapon. Andersson fell victim to this deadly attack, a three-point throw, spurring the American to a stunning 4-1 victory. Fraser then vanquished another World medalist, Ilie Matei of Romania, for the gold medal. can win in adversity, you can win anywhere!" Entering the 1984 Olympics, the U.S. had never won an Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. Its super heavyweight entrant, Jeff Blatnick, Jeff Blatnick said, "If you He was the first American wrestler ever to win an Olympic medal in the Greco-Roman style, in itself a spectacular achievement, but Steve Fraser's Olympic medal was gold, and that makes it part of history. Although the shadow of an Iron change that. Then again, two years earlier, the New York native wasn't a good bet to even become an Olympian. After being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, Blatnick had his spleen and appendix removed in August 1982, and underwent radiation two months later. Ignoring concerns of doctors, Blatnick quickly resumed training, and ultimately made the U.S. team for Los Angeles. There, he capped his comeback by scoring twice in the final 64 seconds of the gold-medal match to defeat Sweden's Tomas Johansson. After falling to his knees and looking skyward, Blatnick dedicated the victory to his brother, Dave, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1977. seemed unlikely to 1988 The 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea were the second Summer Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. In the Seoul Games, 160 nations were represented by a total of 8,391 athletes – 6,197 men and 2,194 women. There were 237 events held, using 27,221 volunteers to help prepare. The much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations to date. A total of 11,331 media (4,978 written press and 6,353 broadcasters) showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games for two of the world's "dominating" sport powers, the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympics. Over a six-year span, starting in 1987 while he was still a student at Oklahoma State University, John Smith was the best wrestler in the world at 136.5 pounds, earning him the reputation as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Although some will argue with the statement that he is "the greatest American wrestler ever," there is no doubt that he is the most titled. After winning the World Championship in 1987, he traveled to Seoul in 1988 and reeled off seven straight wins, defeating Stepan Sarkisian of the Soviet Union in the finals to clinch the gold. The final of freestyle wrestling's 163- pound division pitted Oklahoma native and Smith's OSU teammate Kenny Monday against defending World champion Adlan Varaev of the Soviet Union. In a back- and-forth contest, Monday scored with 17 seconds left to tie the match and force overtime. There, 40 seconds in, Monday lifted the Russian into the air and slammed 1984: (above and left) Jeff Blatnick and Steve Fraser won the first- ever USA gold medals in Greco-Roman wrestling. MEDALIST JOHN SMITH as he shows off his offensive arsenal on his way to gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games. CLICK PLAY TO WATCH TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD 10 | NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM THE GOLD STANDARD 1988: Kenny Monday became the first African- American wrestling gold medalist in Olympic history. BLATNICK

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