Legends By The National Wrestling Hall Of Fame | Chronicling The History And Legacy Of Wrestling's All-time Greats

Episode 9 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 2017 Distinguished Member Tony Gizoni. Gizoni passed away just over a month after his 2017 induction. One of the greatest wrestlers ever to grace the collegiate mat, Tony “Babe” Gizoni was undefeated for seven years in high school and college, winning 108 straight matches. He became the fourth wrestler in Pennsylvania prep history to win three state championships, claiming titles at 101, 103 and 112 pounds from 1946 to 1948 at Washington High School. Gizoni won back-to-back NCAA Division I championships for Waynesburg College. He was also voted Outstanding Wrestler after winning at 121 pounds in 1950 when, as an unseeded wrestler, he defeated the tournament’s top seed – a two-time defending national champion – in the finals. In 1951, wrestling at 123 pounds, he won the title as the No. 1 seed. Trailing in the finals, Gizoni used hand control, back pressure and a hip heist to get a reversal and gain the upper hand in a tight match. T

Episode 8 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 2015 Order of Merit recipient Dave Bennett. Known as “Doc” throughout the wrestling community, Dave Bennett got his start in wrestling as a member of the inaugural high school wrestling team at Jamestown High School in North Dakota in 1959. He was a conference place winner and qualified for the NAIA National Championships while attending Jamestown College (now University of Jamestown). In 1963, he transferred to Pacific University to finish his wrestling career. Bennett graduated with his Bachelor’s degree at Pacific before completing his doctorate in optometry in 1966. After continued study at the University of Washington and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, he went into a joint practice of ophthalmology in Kennewick, Wash., in 1978. He blended a professional career with wrestling throughout his life. Bennett coached high school teams from 1969-1990, holding positions as a volunteer, assistant coach, and

Episode 7 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 2016 Order of Merit recipient Ron Good of Amateur Wrestling News. His career on the mat ended in high school where he helped John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City capture a state championship. His involvement with wrestling, however, continued and if you’ve read America’s first and oldest national wrestling publication, Amateur Wrestling News, then Ron Good’s name is familiar. Serving as co-editor and editor for almost 40 years and regarded as one of the nation’s top experts on college wrestling, Good is highly respected for his match coverage, feature stories, columns and rankings. Good attended his first NCAA Championships in 1977 as a volunteer for AWN before being hired by the publication that August. He spent five years under the mentorship of the magazine’s founder Jess Hoke, who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1977. Good, who attended the University of Central Oklahoma

Episode 6 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 1986 Distinguished Member Ben Peterson. A high school youngster from Wisconsin, competing in the 1968 Olympic trials, caught the eye of veteran coach Harold Nichols. Ben Peterson would become one of Iowa State's greatest wrestlers, and then one of America's brightest stars. He won nearly 100 collegiate matches, was a three-time Big Eight king and a three-time All-American. He captured NCAA championships in 1971 and '72. Encouraged--you might say pushed--by his friend and teammate, Dan Gable, Peterson blended athletic skills with determination and strong faith. Over the next decade, he won seven national Freestyle titles, placed twice in the World Championships (with a bronze medal in '73), and won gold in the 1975 Pan Am Games. During this era, he was joined by his brother, John, to forge one of wrestling's great family legends. In the '72 Olympics, Ben struggled to a draw with Gennady Strakhov of the USSR. When they emerged as the

Episode 5 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 2015 Distinguished Member Joe Gonzales. The goal of wrestling is to take an opponent off his feet and place him on the mat. Perhaps no wrestler in collegiate wrestling has done it better—or more often—than Joe Gonzales. Gonzales perfected the takedown during his time as a 118-pound wrestler at California State-Bakersfield. His 1980 wrestling season ranks among the finest in collegiate wrestling history. Gonzales’ 55-0 record is the national record for the most wins in a single season with no defeats and no ties. He notched 448 takedowns that year too, also a national record. During his career, CSU Bakersfield was a Division II program, so Gonzales had a unique opportunity to win championships in two different divisions. He won the Division II NCAA tournament on March 1, 1980, with a 28-11 win in the championship finals. Then, just two weeks later, he won the Division I NCAA tourney, scoring 16 points or more in four of the six matc

Episode 4 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features 2016 Distinguished Member William "Bill" Harlow. Thought to be the best wrestler ever to come from Tennessee and one of the greatest big men to wrestle at Oklahoma State University, William B. Harlow was a state champion, a three-time NCAA finalist and a three-time national freestyle champion. When he arrived at Oklahoma State, however, he felt as though he had a lot of catching up to do technically and spent his years in Stillwater as a “human sponge” absorbing everything he could learn. With Distinguished Members Yojiro Uetake, Bobby Douglas, and Gene Davis as teammates during his collegiate career, learning opportunities were scattered throughout the wrestling room. He quickly gained a reputation as a slick and smooth wrestler, using technique rarely seen in a man of his size. Harlow finished second in his first trip to the NCAA finals as a sophomore in 1964. As a junior, he won the Big Eight Conference title, but again finished

Episode 3 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features award-winning writer and novelist John Irving, a 1992 Outstanding American inductee. Throughout his literary career, John Irving has demonstrated his ties to wrestling. In his best-known novel, The World According to Garp, the title character is a wrestling enthusiast. The 158-Pound Marriage, winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Award, features a wrestling coach as a principal character. Irving attended the Universities of Pittsburgh and Vienna and earned degrees at the Universities of New Hampshire and Iowa. He has taught at Windham College, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley College, Brandeis University, Pittsburgh and Iowa. Wrestling captain at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Irving was a member of the wrestling team at Pitt. He has coached at Phillips Exeter and four other prep schools in Massachusetts and Vermont. He is a member of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and the New York Athletic Club. His works include Setting Fre

Episode 2 of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast features Arthur "Bucky" Maughan, a 2003 inductee as a Distinguished Member. A man of legendary tenacity, Arthur "Bucky" Maughan, is one of the all time great contributors to the sport of wrestling. As a competitor, coach, and tournament host, his Pennsylvania work ethic has impacted the past, the present, and the future of the sport. During his prep career in wrestling rich Pennsylvania, he compiled a string of 70 dual victories culminating in a state championship. Continuing his career at Moorhead State University, he won three national collegiate championships in two years-two NAIA crowns (1961 and 1963) as well as the 1963 NCAA title. In 1964, his passion for the sport led him to become the head coach of North Dakota State University. Teaching fundamentals to the "fledgling" team, he took the program from virtual obscurity to an NCAA Division II powerhouse. With a dual meet winning percentage of 77%, his teams have amassed thirty-five wi

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame's LEGENDS podcast debuts with Dr. Stanley Henson, a 1978 inductee as a Distinguished Member. Henson, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a three-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma A&M back in the 1930's and currently holds the distinction as the oldest living NCAA champion. Henson chronicles his life back in the Great Depression working in the oil fields, growing up wrestling and continuing his career for coach Edward C. Gallagher in Stillwater. A renowned surgeon who made great advances in sports medicine as well, Henson currently lives in Fort Collins, Colorado after he retired from a distinguished career in medicine. SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW iTunes | Stitcher | Spreaker | Soundcloud | Android | RSS Contribute And if you're a fan of the extensive and broad-based reach of the shows on the Mat Talk Podcast Network, become a contributor today.. There are various levels of perks for the different levels of patronage. If you like wrestling content -- scratch that -- if you LOVE great

Legends is the latest offering from the Mat Talk Podcast Network. Presented by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, this podcast will interview the legends in the sport of wrestling, serving to preserve their memories, stories and triumphs for generations to come. The show is hosted by award-winning wrestling broadcaster, announcer and journalist Jason Bryant. It is completely crowdfunded, so the more wrestling fans who contribute, the more stories get told. All of these files are donated back to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for it's budding digital outreach program, which will provide more interactive exhibits at the Hall of Fame in Stillwater and the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo. Contribute And if you're a fan of the extensive and broad-based reach of the shows on the Mat Talk Podcast Network, become a contributor today.. There are various levels of perks for the different levels of patronage. If you like wrestling content -- scratch that -- if you LOVE great wrestling content, consider becoming a c