Craig Ewing of Kansas City, Mo. was named USA Wrestling State Chairperson of the Year. This award honors a USA Wrestling State Chairperson for service and leadership within the organization.

The announcement was made during USA Wrestling's annual State Leaders Conference, held at the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront Resort in Riviera Beach, Fla.

Ewing has served as State Chairperson in Missouri for six years. Previously, he served 10 years as the Vice Chairperson of Missouri USA Wrestling. He has also held the offices of treasurer and secretary and has served many years on the state's Executive Board. He has been active with USA Wrestling for 23 years.

He serves as the Tournament Director for the National Cadet Dual Meet Championships, which has been held in Kansas City for the last two years. The tournament is one of USA Wrestling's most popular age-group competitions each year. 

Ewing also has been Tournament Director for the Southern Plains Junior Regionals two times. For 10 years, Ewing served as Tournament Director for the Missouri Kids State Championships for 10 years.

He is the Southern Plains Regional Representative on USA Wrestling's Kids/Cadet National Council. Ewing has served as the President of the Nomad Wrestling Club in Kansas City, Mo. For 10 years and has served as a coach in the state's youth programs for many years.

Among the achievements that Ewing is most proud of is the fact that Missouri USA Wrestling is able to fully fund the costs of all three National Duals teams from the state. The athletes who represent Missouri at the National Schoolboy Duals, National Cadet Duals and National Junior Duals are able to attend free of charge. This program has also created an incentive for more athletes to compete at Missouri's state freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships, which has seen entry levels double in recent years.

During the years that Ewing has served as state chairperson, membership in the state association has grown every year. Ewing expects a record for membership in the state this year at approximately 7,100 members.

For 25 years, Ewing was also a high school wrestling referee in the state.

Ewing comes from a wrestling family, and competed in the sport from the age of 10 through high school. When he was a college student, he volunteered as a coach with a local youth club and has remained active as a coach or leader ever since. Two of his sons were wrestlers and involved in Missouri USA Wrestling's program His young son Chris is the head coach of the local kids club and has served as the state's Southern Plains Kids and Cadet Coach.

State Chairperson of the Year
1978 - Leroy Evans, California
1979 - Dave Dozeman, Michigan
1980 - Frank Rader, North Carolina
1981 - Ted DeRousse, Illinois
1982 - Dave and Bobby Schneller, Connecticut
1983 - Mick Pickford, Iowa
1984 - Bill Crum, New Jersey
1985 - Tom Canavan, Pennsylvania
1986 - Kay Lacher, Minnesota
1987 - Jack Harcourt, Virginia
1988 - Mark Scott, Wyoming
1989 - Leroy Evans, California and Charlie White, Colorado
1990 - John Welch, New Jersey
1991 - Dave Mellon, North Dakota
1992 - Bob Labat, Minnesota
1993 - Al Kastl, Michigan
1994 - Chuck Elvin, Kansas
1995 - Haswell Franklin, Sr., Maryland
1996 - Archie Randall, Oklahoma
1997 - Fred Lehrke, Wisconsin
1998 - Bob Walker, Florida
1999 - Mike Dowden, Indiana
2000 - Paula McGahee, Georgia
2001 - Tom Shaw, Washington
2002 -Dave Black, Wisconsin
2003 - Jim Considine, Illinois
2004 - Mike Juby, Kansas
2005 - Tom Knupp, Ohio
2006 - Craig Ewing, Missouri