Hesser named USA Wrestling Official of the Year

<< Back to Articles
Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
07/27/2002


Jan Hesser of Hillsborough, Ind. has been named the 2002 USA Wrestling Official of the Year. The award is selected each year by the U.S. Wrestling Officials Associaion, which is affiliated with USA Wrestling.    Hesser has been a mat official since 1975. His USA ranking is M1-E, and he is a FILA I international official.    Hesser has worked many of the top international tournaments in the world, including the Women's World Championships and seven Cadet World Championships. He has been a mat official at the Pan American Championships, as well as major international tournaments in Russi,a, Cuba and other locations.    He has been a loyal supporter of USA Wrestling, working countless events on the local, state, regional and national levels.    Hesser has served four years on the USWOA Executive Board. He has also served 25 years as the Officials Chairperson for Indiana.    He has served as head wrestling coach at Fountain Central High School, as well as other high school programs. Hesser wrestled in college for Wabash College.    Official of the Year Award    1971 - Vince Zuaro, New York    1972 - Wes Hogland, Oregon    1973 - Dennis Fankhouser    1974 - Pat Lovell, California    1975 - Pat Lovell, California    1976 - Sam Williams. New York    1977 - Mick Pickford, Iowa    1978 - Charlie White, Colorado    1979 - Jon Schaus, Illinois    1980 - Don Sondgeroth, Colorado    1981 - Steve Bernhardt, Virginia    1982 - Gordon Weeks, Michigan    1983 - Bernie Norris, Illinois    1984 - Leroy Evans, California    1985 - Carolyn White, Colorado    1986 - Tony Melosci, New York    1987 - Santos Cageao, Ohio    1988 - Bob Dellinger, Oklahoma    1989 - Chuck Almeida, Florida    1990 - Eric Kopsch, Michigan    1991 - Sue Siar, Pennsylvania    1992 - Rick Tucci, Florida    1993 - Bill Stecklein, Pennsylvania    1994 - Jack Bowman, Indiana    1995 - Bob Siar, Sr., Pennsylvania    1996 - David Errett, Indiana    1997 - Chris Curtis, New Jersey    1998 - Tom Clark, Indiana    1999 - Mort Geller, Florida    2000 - Mike Hess, Washington    2001 - Tom Siar, Pennsylvania  2002 - Jan Hesser, Indiana