The California USA Wrestling Board of Directors has named its annual Kids/Cadet State Championships in memory of one of California's greatest wrestling legends, the late Dave Schultz.

Schultz, a World and Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling, attended high school and a portion of his college career in California. Schultz became one of the greatest wrestlers in the world, and was known as an ambassador for the sport worldwide. He was tragically murdered in 1996, while training for the Olympic Trials at the age of 36.

This year, the Dave Schultz Kids/Cadet Freestyle State Championships will be held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif., May 12-14. In addition, the FILA Junior Men's Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships, as well as the FILA Junior Women's Championships will be held alongside the event in San Jose. The Event Director, Roberto Dixon, can be reached at 831-521-0832

Dave Schultz was a state high school champion and three-time state placewinner for Palo Alto High School in California.

In college, he attended Oklahoma State Univ., then transferred to UCLA, but the program was dropped from the athletic department there. Schultz completed his career at the Univ. of Oklahoma. He was a three-time All-American in college and won the NCAA title as a senior at Oklahoma.

He was an assistant wrestling coach at Stanford Univ. early in his career, and also served coaching stints at the Univ. of Wisconsin and with the Team Foxcatcher club.

Throughout his career, Schultz won almost every honor available in the sport of wrestling. His career highlights include 1984 Olympic Champion, 1983 World Champion, three-time World silver medalist, and two-time World Bronze medalist. He was a Goodwill Games champion in 1986, a Pan American Games Champion in 1987, and a World Cup champion four times.

He won 10 Senior national titles (eight in freestyle and two in Greco-Roman). He did this over a 19-year span at three weight divisions: 149.5 lbs, 163 lbs and 180.5 lbs. He earned the Outstanding Wrestler award four times, twice pinning all his opponents. 

Dave's younger brother Mark was also a 1984 Olympic champion, and won two World gold medals (1985, 1987). 

Dave was recognized as one of the world's top wrestling technicians. He had a passionate love for the sport, and was considered an ambassador of goodwill across the world. Dave was a devoted family man to his wife, Nancy, and two children, Alexander and Danielle

"California USA Wrestling's Board of Directors want to keep Dave Schultz' name alive in our state, and we appreciate everything he has done for the sport," said Rob Valerio of California USA Wrestling.