A.L. Haizlip receives the Ed Aliverti Golden Microphone Award from USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender and USA Wrestling President Jim Ravannack. Photo by Mindy Gardner/Univ. of Iowa

USA Wrestling has presented A.L. Haizlip with the 2012 Ed Aliverti Golden Microphone Award, an award which is given annually to honor a public address announcer who has excelled in the craft and made a major positive impact on the wrestling community. He received the award during the annual USA Wrestling Awards Banquet, held in Iowa City, Iowa on April 20.

The award is named in honor of the late Ed Aliverti, the Hall of Fame public address announcer, who set the standard for how to announce wrestling competitions.

Haizlip has announced many major USA Wrestling events, in addition to other top competitions at all levels of the sport, including youth tournaments, high school state championships, college dual meets and tournaments and international events.

At wrestling competitions, Haizlip tries to provide an exciting environment for both fans and athletes. This is what has made his presentation very popular and respected.

“You have to make it exciting for the fans and keep them involved. You also must make it exciting for the athletes. If you can get the athletes to feed off the crowd, and the crowd to feed off the athletes, it is tremendous. You can do it with music and voice. You can also use pyrotechnics and other techniques. You have to be open to new ideas. But you can’t get away from being true to the sport,” said Haizlip.

Haizlip has developed into one of the best wrestling announcers in all styles, and has been especially active with major USA Wrestling events. He recently announced the 2012 Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Florida, and the 2012 Pan American Championships in Colorado.

He was the announcer for the FILA Grappling World Championships in Florida in 2009 and the U.S. World Team Trials in Oklahoma in 2011. He has worked every Junior National Dual Meet Championships in Oklahoma since 1999, and the ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet National Championships in North Dakota since 2009.

Haizlip also has been very active in college wrestling. He has been the announcer for home matches for the University of Missouri for the last two seasons. He previously announced home competitions for the University of Oklahoma from 1991-2009. He also announced for the Oklahoma City University men’s and women’s team match from 2007-2009. He has also been the announcer for the annual Lone Star Duals in Texas every year since 1997.

Among the national events on the college level he has worked are the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Nationals from 2003 to present, the 2009 NAIA Nationals and the 2008 WCWA Women’s College Nationals. He served as the audio manager for the 2006 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships.

He has also been the announcer of the Arkansas State High School Wrestling Championships since 2008.

A wrestler from a wrestling family, Haizlip was not interested in announcing growing up until a teacher convinced him to compete in a radio contest.

“An English teacher asked me to do some speaking for him. I read some script for him. He said he’d like me to compete in radio speaking. I was not interested. Two months later, I went back and asked him for more information. In my junior year in high school, I was a state placewinner in radio speaking. As an undergrad in college, it provided a living for me,” said Haizlip.

He pursued other interests, including attending law school. In the 1980’s, Haizlip was asked to announce some matches at West Moore High School in Oklahoma, which was a fun project for him. His work there caught the attention of OU head wrestling coach Stan Abel.

“Abel heard me doing some local matches and asked me to go down to OU. When he left, Jack Spates approached me. I was officiating at the time, because I was very interested in the sport. Spates asked me to stay on as the OU announcer. Now, 18 years later, time has gone by and I’ve had the opportunity to many other events and many other sports. What a dream this was for a kid who wasn’t initially interested in announcing,” said Haizlip.

Among his other wrestling events were the ESPN-U Wrestling Doubleheader in 2006, the ESPN-U Wrestling Invitational in 2008, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Champions Reception from 2004 to present and the US Army Midwest Nationals from 2004 to present. He has also done many major World of Wrestling Events with Roller Productions held in Tulsa, Las Vegas and Reno.

Haizlip was inducted with a Lifetime Service Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Oklahoma Chapter in 2009. He was also named to the Tulsa Nationals Hall of Fame in 2007.

Among his other sports events was the Olympic Trials in Canoe and Kayak, as well as major national or international events in rowing, gymnastics, sailing, mixed martial arts and softball.

USA Wrestling is proud to celebrate the life of Ed Aliverti with this award program. Aliverti made a tremendous impact on USA Wrestling and the entire sport for many decades, setting the standard for those who handling public announcing at competitions. He worked all of the major events in our sport, from the youth level through the Olympic Games. He was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994.

“I knew Ed Aliverti. He was a renaissance man. He did everything. He was so open to new things. He’d sing the national anthem and raise the hair on the back of your neck. He was an innovator and a creator. To receive an award in his honor is overwhelming to me. And to receive it behind legends Sandy Stevens and Don Blasingame, I can’t put it into words. It’s incredible,” said Haizlip.

ED ALIVERTI GOLDEN MICROPHONE AWARD WINNERS
2010 – Sandy Stevens, Glen Ellyn, Ill.
2011 – Don Blasingame, Midwest City, Okla.
2012 – A.L. Haizlip, Lenexa, Kan.