STILLWATER, OK - Kevin Short has been named the 2004 National Wrestling Hall of Fame Outstanding American.  The Outstanding American award is given to recognize a former wrestler who has earned national or international stature acclaim in a profession or field of endeavor not related to wrestling.    Among the honorees to date are Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and other government leaders, four U.S. presidents, a Nobel Prize winner, prominent business executives, two 4-star Generals, an Admiral, 2 actors, an author, a singer and two astronauts.     Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Charles County, Maryland, Kevin graduated in 1979 from Lackey High School as a three-time district-wrestling champion.  He was also an active participant in the theatre and was an all-district performer in both instrumental and vocal music.  Upon graduation Short accepted an offer to wrestle at Morgan State University but soon felt the pull to resume his music studies.  He went on to receive his BS degree in Music and was chosen as the Outstanding Vocal Student at the university.  He received his MM at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music and completed his studies at the Juilliard School of Music.      He is in demand around the world in both opera and concert.  A sampling of the some of the North American companies include The Metropolitan, Chicago Lyric, and New York City Opera.  In Europe, he has performed with several companies including Staattheatre Stuttgart and the Munich Prizregenten theatre. He has many orchestral highlights including the Nagano Winter Olympics Orchestra at the 1998 opening ceremonies.  In addition he has been a winner of some of the world's most important competitions.      Short will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an Outstanding American during Honors Weekend on June 4-5, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.