Oklahoma Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame to hold banquet in Oklahoma City, December 5

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Mike Clair (NWHoF)
11/15/2004


STILLWATER, OK - The Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame has announced the 2004 Class of Honorees to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for Lifetime Service to Wrestling.      This award is given annually to coaches, officials and contributors who have given a lifetime of service to the sport of wrestling, their communities and most importantly, to the young people they have coached, taught and inspired.      The Class of 2004, with extensive biographies of each inductee, follows:     Don Blasingame has been dubbed the "Voice of Oklahoma Wrestling", but that is only the beginning of his contributions to the sport of wrestling.  On the international scene he has served as Announcer for three World Cup Tournaments, the Concord Cup and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.  He served as Producer for wrestling at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.  He also served as producer for the 1995 and 2003 World Championship Tournaments, as well as the 1999 FILA Jr. World Championships held in Sydney.   Blasingame has served as Announcer at NCAA Division I and II Wrestling Championships, and NAIA National Championships.  He has served as Head Announcer for the Reno Tournament of Champions since it's beginning in 1992 and is looking forward to his 14th year in that capacity.  He also served as Co-Announcer for the Jr. and Cadet Nationals from 1998 and still counting.  In Oklahoma, Blasingame has announced many Class 3A and 2A football and basketball championship games, as well as the State Girls Volleyball Championships.  Since 1995 he has been the announcer for the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships.  He is currently the "Voice of the Oklahoma State Cowboy Wrestling" and has been in that capacity since 1990.  His contributions to the sport of wrestling have been heard around the world.                Steve Ferguson has been involved in sports for 43 years as an athlete, coach, official and spectator.  He not only coached wrestling, but for 20 years he officiated wrestling on the elementary, junior high, high school and college levels.  He also coached football the past 30 years.  After graduating from University of Central Oklahoma in 1975, Ferguson began his coaching career at Mid-Del Schools - Townsend Elementary.  In 1980 he moved to Pauls Valley where he coached at both the Junior High and Senior High.  From 1982-1983 he coached at the Yukon Junior High and Senior High.  Finally, he made the move back to the Mid-Del School system in 1983, where he coached at Townsend Elementary, Parkview Elementary, Kerr Junior High School and Del City High School.  During Ferguson's 30 years as a wrestling coach his teams enjoyed great success.  His total dual record is 301 wins and 14 losses.  His Kerr Junior High teams won the 1998 State Championship and the Edmond Championship six times.  All totaled, his teams won 20 tournaments and placed second five times.  Ferguson's peers recognized his accomplishments by naming him Junior High Coach of the Year in 1994, 1997 and 1998.  He received the Edmond Winning Coach Award six times.       Byron Graham's coaching career began in 1971 with the Edmond Public School system where he remained until his retirement in 2001.  From 1971-1975 he coached at the Edmond Junior High, moving to Edmond Memorial High School in 1976.  His overall wrestling coaching record is 156-52-1.  A career highlight was when his 1988 team won the 5A State Championship.  In 1990 and 1991 his teams were State Runners-Up.  His 1990 team was also Dual State Runners-Up.  For his many accomplishments Graham was named the 1983 All-State Wrestling Coach, the 1984 and 1988 Region 8 Wrestling Coach of the Year and the 1988 5A Wrestling Coach of the Year.  In 1989 he received the EPS Accent of Excellence Distinguished Service Award.   Graham also enjoyed a successful coaching career in baseball, receiving many awards in that capacity.  He was named the 1992 Rookie Coach of the Year, 1994 Region 8 Baseball Coach of the Year, 1994 Daily Oklahoman Baseball Coach of the Year, and the 1994 All-State Baseball Coach.  He was not only a good coach, he was an outstanding teacher.  He received the 2002 Certificate of Excellence for Teachers of High School Science Award and the Edmond Memorial High School Teacher of the Year Award.       Greg Henning spent one year as Assistant Coach at the University of Central Oklahoma before moving to a head-coaching job at Sallisaw High School in 1979.  He remained there until 1982 when he became the head coach at Stillwell High School.  In 1985 he made the move to Tuttle High School where he is still coaching.  Five times his teams were crowned State Champions and five times they were runners-up.  His teams won 14 District Championships, six Academic State Championships, nine Regional Championships and were runners-up three times at the Dual State Championships.  During his outstanding coaching career Henning was named Coach of the Year in the competing class six times.  In 1990 and 2003 he was named Coach of the Year in all classes.  He was also named Little All City Coach of the Year. Henning officiated scholastic matches at every level, elementary through college, as well as Freestyle and Greco matches.  He served as State Cultural Exchange Director taking teams to Japan and Europe.  He also helped host and organize many visiting national teams from West Germany, New Zealand and Japan.     Bill Luttrell spent one year as both assistant football and assistant wrestling coach at Midwest City High School before he became the head wrestling coach in 1973.  During his six years at Midwest City High School his teams won two state titles and finished as runners-up twice.   For these outstanding accomplishments, Luttrell was named the 1974 and the 1975 Coach of the Year.  After retiring from coaching he served as a volunteer coach at the Mid-Del grade schools for ten years. He was a high school official from 1979 to 1984, working regional and state tournaments, and a college official from 1975 to 1985, working the Bedlam series, the Big 8 Championship Tournaments and NCAA Championships. From 1984 to the present date, he served as a Wrestling Rules Interpreter and Official.  He was a member of the National High School Federation Rules Committee from 1998-2002.   Today he enjoys many community service activities in Midwest City-Del City, including the Public School Foundation.     Tom Moore is a man of all sports.  Besides wrestling he coached track, fast-pitch softball, slow pitch softball, tennis and golf.  He officiated football for 20 years and softball for 11 years.  He started officiating wrestling in 1966 and continues to do so. His officiating duties include Jr. College, NAIA, NCAA Division I and II matches and tournaments.   He served as Commissioner for High School and Middle School Football and Wrestling in Oklahoma City for 20 years from 1984 to the present date.  Moore began his coaching career at Kerr Junior High in 1966 where he remained as Assistant Coach until 1970.  From 1970 to 1981 he served as Kerr Junior High School Head Coach.  In 1981 he became head wrestling coach at Del City High School.  Previous honors include being named the 1975 Junior High School Coach of the Year and the 1985 Wrestling Official of the Year.  He was also named the 1985 Oklahoma All-State Official.  In 1990 he was listed as Who's Who Teachers in America, and in 1999 he was named Del City Wrestling Man of the year.        Jim Rogers is credited with starting the highly successful wrestling program at the University of Central Oklahoma.  After graduating from Oklahoma State, he attended graduate school at the University of Utah and served as Assistant Wrestling Coach for two years.   While he coached at the University of Utah, the team was ranked in the top 10 for the first time in University history and they won the WAC conference.  But it was in 1972 when UCO made the decision to start a wrestling program that Jim made a difference in the sport of wrestling.  Even though the school had not had a wrestling team sin