When in Oklahoma, see "The Hall"

Wrestling people are starting their journey for a traditional highlight of each season, the week of the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships. Thousands of wrestlers, coaches, volunteers and fans come from every corner of the nation each year to enjoy this major competition, and to share their love of wrestling as a community.

This year, the NCAA Championships are in Oklahoma City, Okla., one of the nation’s hotbeds for the sport. So much of American wrestling history has occurred in Oklahoma, and countless great champions have come from the state.

For those who will be in Oklahoma City this year for the NCAA Championships, there is a wrestling treasure that should be included in the plans for the week. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is located only a short drive away in Stillwater, Okla., and the trip is well worth it.

Those who have never been to the Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum will be amazed at the facility, as well as the vast amount of entertaining and historic materials housed there. Those who have not been there for a number of years will also be very excited and pleased to see how the Hall of Fame has grown and expanded and changed.

“The Hall of Fame is the showcase for the sport’s history and heritage,” said Lee Roy Smith, Excecutive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. “We refer to it as the place where legends live on and will always live on. We feel this is sacred ground. Every wrestling fan should make at least one journey to wrestling’s mecca during their life.”

In order to make it easier for NCAA wrestling fans to take advantage of this opportunity, the Hall of Fame has extended its hours of operation the entire week.

On Monday and Tuesday March 13-14, the Hall will be open from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. On Wednesday, March 15, the Hall will open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. to accommodate those arriving in Oklahoma who would like to visit before the championships begin.

During the championships, on Thursday and Friday, March 16-17, the Hall will open from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. After the championships, the Museum will accommodate visitors on Sunday, March 19, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Every wrestling person who is coming to the NCAA Championships should look at their travel schedule and see if they can make the time to go to Stillwater for a visit. Admission to the Hall is $5 for adults, $2 for students and $10 for families. Groups of 8-25 people will be admitted for $25, and groups larger than 25 are $1 per person. Children under five are free.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a focal point for the past, the present and the future of wrestling. It preserves the heritage of the sport, celebrates new achievements, and encourages the youth of our land to aspire to lofty goals. In short, if you have interest in wrestling at any level, the Hall of Fame has something for you.

Ask anybody who has been to the Hall of Fame at some point in their lives, and they will tell you how much fun they had going through all the exhibits. It is the kind of place where people enjoy lingering, walking from exhibit to exhibit, seeing the history of the sport up close. All of the great champions are recognized, and there are momentos going all the way back to the beginning of the sport in our nation centuries ago.

But if you have not been to the Hall of Fame recently, especially in the last 10 years, you must go back sometime soon. It is not the same Hall of Fame that you remember. The staff and volunteers of the Hall of Fame have done so much to make the Hall even larger, even more impressive, even more inspiring.

The Hall of Fame almost doubled in size a few years ago with the creation of the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors. With the creation of this impressive expanded area, the Hall of Fame has stocked the museum with so much more history. It will seem like you have come to an entirely new place if you have not visited since the expansion.

Each of the Distinguished Members now have their own display case with their Hall of Fame plaque. Fans will be able to see numerous personal items from each Hall of Fame inductee, things that bring their wrestling career to life. In addition, there is also a display case for each of those honored as Outstanding Americans, the wrestlers who have gone on to great successes in all walks of life.

Paul K. Scott Museum of Wrestling History is the area of the museum that has a variety of displays spanning the many years of wrestling heritage. Each of the display cases is full of interesting materials that brings the past alive and shows the development of the sport in our nation.

FILA, the international wrestling federation, has named the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater as the site for the new FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame. A new display for the world’s greatest wrestlers is now included there for fans to enjoy. For the last three years, there has been a class of international stars inducted into this portion of the Hall of Fame. Included are three Americans: John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner and Kevin Jackson. Anybody who enjoys Olympic-level wrestling will find this new area of interest.

There are so many interesting things at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. It contains the most extensive wrestling library in the world, William S. Hein, Jr. Library. There is a display for the state chapters of the Hall of Fame, where many of the legendary wrestling figures in each state are honored. Visitors to the Hall of Fame enjoy seeing the name of the coaches and leaders within their state and community honored there.

The Hall of Fame has secured almost all of the NCAA Championships title matches going back to the 1950s. Fans can go into the impressive Cliff Keen theater room and watch historic college wrestling matches on a large screen. After watching today’s college heroes at the Ford Center, you can go there to see yesterday’s NCAA champions on the big screen in Stillwater.

There is a section in the Hall of Fame where all the national champions on each age level, from youth through college and the Olympic levels, are listed by year. This allows you to see the history of the sport, year by year, and champion by champion.

In the Gable/Smith Room, the U.S. champions and medalists on the Olympic and World level are recognized and honored. So many people also enjoy seeing the ASICS High School All-American Team posters that go back 20 years, as these amazing high school athletes are recognized and displayed on the walls of the Hall.

The Hall of Fame has a new line of merchandise which will interest wrestling fans of all ages.

Fans traveling up to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum from I-35 should take the Highway 51 exit (No. 174) east toward Stillwater. From Highway 51, known as 6th Avenue in Stillwater, fans should turn north (left) onto Duck Street, go approximately a mile and turn left onto Hall of Fame Avenue. The Hall of Fame will be on the left. Anyone needing more information should contact the Hall at (405) 377-5243.

Those who visit the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this week will be glad that they did. Even better, once you have been there, you will want to return another time. Wrestling continues to change and evolve, and our Hall of Fame continues to get better every year. Make your own personal wrestling pilgrimage.

Gary Abbott is the Director of Communications and Special Projects for USA Wrestling and is a founder of the National Wrestling Media Association and is a 2005 recipient of the NWCA Meritorious Service Award.

Gary Abbott