STILLWATER, OKLA. - Olympic silver medalist and three-time NCAA champion Barry Davis, who now resides in Madison, Wis., has been elected as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. 

Davis will be among four wrestling greats who will be inducted as Distinguished Members at its annual Honors Weekend Banquet and Induction Ceremony June 2, 2007 in Stillwater, Okla.

Davis captured a silver medal at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. in freestyle wrestling. He also earned a spot on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team which competed in Seoul, South Korea.

For many years, Davis was one of the nation's top freestyle wrestlers. He won a World silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, as well as a World bronze medal in 1986 in Budapest, Hungary. Davis was also a member of the 1983 U.S. World Team.

Among his other international achievements was a gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games and a bronze medal at the 1986 World Cup.  Davis competed through the 1992 Olympic year, when his bid to make a third Olympic team fell short.

Davis had one of the top college wrestling careers of his era, winning three NCAA Div. I national titles for the Univ. of Iowa, competing for the legendary Dan Gable. He won NCAA titles in 1982, 1983 and in 1985, and placed seventh in the 1981 NCAA Championships as a freshman. Davis was named Outstanding Wrestler at the 1985 NCAA Championships. All four years that Davis competed for the Hawkeyes, Iowa also won the NCAA team title. 

Davis won four Big Ten individual titles, and was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 1985, one of only two wrestlers to win that prestigious award.. He graduated with a career record of 162-9-1. Davis still holds Iowa team records for victories (162) and wins in a season (46 in 1982). Davis took a redshirt year in 1984, when he captured his Olympic medal, then returned as a senior to win his third career NCAA crown in 1985.  

Davis was a three-time Iowa state champion for Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, with a career prep record of 102-6-1.

He currently serves as the head wrestling coach at the Univ. of Wisconsin, where he has coached the Badger team for 13 years (1984-present). Davis coached Donny Pritzlaff to NCAA titles in 2000 and 2001 and Jeff Walter to a NCAA title in 1996. He has coached 16 wrestlers to NCAA All-American status and six wrestlers to 10 Big Ten individual titles. His 2000 Badger team placed in a tie for ninth at the NCAA Championships.

He began his coaching career at the Univ. of Iowa, where he was an assistant coach from 1988-92 and a graduate assistant coach from 1986-87. The Hawkeyes won two NCAA team titles while Davis served on the coaching staff.

Davis is a member of the National Iowa Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Profiles of the new Distinguished Members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum will be posted this week from Thursday through Sunday on TheMat.com.