Sandy Stevens joined the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Board of Governors in 2012 and serves as a member of the executive committee while also serving as a board member for the Hall of Fame’s Illinois Chapter.

In 1998 the Hall of Fame presented her with its Order of Merit award, which is selected by a vote of the Hall of Fame’s Distinguished Members. She became the first female to receive the award and only the second female inducted into the Hall of Fame. Stevens was inducted as a member of the Charter Class of the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa in 2002, and received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Illinois Chapter in 2017. She regularly announces events for the Hall of Fame, including Honors Weekend and the museum’s roundtable discussions at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

Stevens has been “that lady announcer” at hundreds of wrestling events, ranging from high school to the Olympic Games. She began her announcing career when her husband, the late Bob “Bear” Stevens, needed an announcer for a high school meet. Thus began a career behind the microphone that grew to include University of Iowa dual meets and USA Wrestling events. Stevens was an announcer for the NCAA Division I National Championships for 34 years and has been the lead announcer for the National Junior Championships since its inception in 1971. She announced the men’s and women’s World Championships in 2003 and 2015 and the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1996. Stevens has also announced Cadet, Junior and Espoir World Championships, the Midlands Tournament, high school tournaments from coast to coast and multiple regional, national and international events.

The journalist from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was named Woman of the Year by USA Wrestling in 2000 while the National Wrestling Coaches Association awarded her with its Meritorious Service award and United World Wrestling has accorded her an International “Exceptionelle” ranking. She made history again in 2017 when she became the first woman inducted into Iowa’s Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Stevens helped create the Bear and Sandy Stevens Head Wrestling Coach Endowment at the University of Northern Iowa, which helps support the salary of the UNI wrestling coach, and she was the lead donor in the wrestling room renovation project as well as endowing two wrestling scholarships.

What differentiates the National Wrestling Hall of Fame from other organizations in which you serve?

Just look at the three points of the Hall’s mission to honor wrestling: preserving its history, recognizing extraordinary achievements, and inspiring future generations. Its purpose is unique. What more could we ask for to champion the sport that means so much to each of us? Add to that the fact that each person I have met on the national board or from the state chapters is involved solely to support that mission, not for personal glory.

You have given in countless ways to wrestling. Why are you so driven to give?

I have been blessed - blessed beyond measure - to be part of the wrestling family for nearly five decades. I can’t begin to describe the friendships and the experiences that family has provided, from local tournaments to the Olympics.

I’m also driven by the knowledge that wrestling saves lives. I first recognized its influences and that of its coaches in my husband’s life. By the time he’d earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, and was on his way to a doctorate, most of those with whom he’d gone to elementary school were either in prison or dead by violent means. Talk to wrestlers for any length of time, and you’ll hear stories about how this sport turned their life around.

How did you find the sport of wrestling?

It kind of found me. My late husband Bear and I started dating the summer before 10th grade. That fall he went out for wrestling for the first time. Because I was interested in him, I figured I should learn about what he was interested in. As I was falling in love with him, I fell in love with the sport and the people involved in it. That’s one long-lasting love affair!

How do we continue to get women involved in wrestling?

First, we need to support the already-existing women’s programs – national, collegiate, state and youth – any way we can, whether it’s by attending meets, providing financial support or just talking up the values that wrestling provides. The Hall of Fame has an exhibit “Wrestling is a Sport For All and Any BODY Can Wrestle” and I truly believe that is true. Look at what wrestling did for Sally Roberts and how her Wrestle Like a Girl Foundation is influencing the lives and the choices of younger girls. Also, we need to push for the NCAA’s approval of women’s wrestling as an emerging sport; that will make a dramatic difference in the future of our sport.

You are known worldwide for your voice. How do you prepare to announce a wrestling tournament?

By doing as much research as possible: Are there returning champions, All-Americans or academic award winners? What are the current rankings and who are the leaders in takedowns, tech falls, etc. I like to add human interest information to help fans know more about the wrestlers, such as they are the third sibling to wrestle for a title or they missed last year because of injury. Was the wrestler all-state in another sport, do they participate in other extracurricular activities like choir or band? And keep up with rule changes.

But most important is saying the names correctly. Everyone deserves that respect. I ask, “If you have a name that is easily or often mispronounced, please come to the announcer’s table and we’ll get the correct pronunciation.” I’ve even had brothers who pronounced their names differently, and in one tournament, in the same weight class, three wrestlers with the same last name, all pronounced it differently.