Kurt Angle elected as Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
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(National Wrestling Hall of Fame)
02/07/2001
On June 2, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will induct five former wrestling greats for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the sport. The first of the new Distinguished Members to be announced is Olympic and World Champion Kurt Angle. Each day this week, TheMat.com will profile one of the new Distinguished Members in the Hall's 25th class. Upon claiming his Olympic Gold Medal in 1996, Kurt Angle joined an elite group of wrestlers, becoming one of only four wrestlers to ever win wrestling's "Grand Slam"-the Junior Nationals, NCAA Championships, the World Championships and the Olympics. In 1987, Angle claimed a Junior Nationals title, a Pennsylvania state champion and earned all-state honors as a linebacker in football in the process. The following year, Angle added a first-place finish at the Espoir Nationals to his resumé. While competing at heavyweight for Clarion University, Angle captured four league championships and was a three-time conference champion. He sandwiched a pair of NCAA crowns around a runner-up finish in 1991 and wrapped up his career with a ledger of 116-10-2. In 1995, Angle was victorious at the World Championships and completed the wrestling slam with his triumph at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Angle also has a first-place finish at the Krasnoyarsk Tournament in Russia to his credit, making him one of only four American wrestlers to finish first at the event. Angle's accomplishments were enough to outdistance Mario Lemieux, Jerome Bettis and Jeff King for the Dapper Dan Award, presented to Pittsburgh's outstanding athlete of the year. In addition, Angle is a member of the Pennsylvania Classic Hall of Fame, the Clarion University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.