No matter what the calendar said, when he stepped onto a mat it was always "MON-day night!" Poise, patience and mental toughness propelled Kenny Monday to Olympic gold in 1988, silver in 1992 and sixth in 1996. He made winning a habit and wrestling a pleasure to watch.

At Booker T. Washington, Kenny's coach characterized his passage from "scrawny to awesome," as Monday chalked up an almost unblemished record of 140-0-1. He amassed four state high school championships at four different weights , tucking in a 1977 Junior Nationals title along the way. In seven trips to the Junior Olympics, he won five times.

At Oklahoma State University, the 150-pounder became a teammate of the only wrestler to tie him in high school duals, a fierce competitor named Mike Sheets. At OSU, Kenny ran up a career record of 121-12-2. Twice a runner-up, Monday captured an NCAA title in 1984. He ranked second on OSU's all-time list for falls. In 1986, he won the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Classic and took both the Sunkist International Open the the World Cup the following year.

International victories came at the 1988 Tblisi Tournament, the 1989 World Championships, the 1991 Pan American Games and the President's Cup in Turkey, the 1992 Roger Coulon in France and the 1996 Dan Kolov Tournament in Bulgaria. At the grueling Tblisi in Soviet Georgia, he was honored with the prized animal-skin cloak at the Outstanding Wrestler. One American coach summed up the Tblisi as "probably five times as tough" as the Olympics. O.W. honors also went to Kenny in 1989 and 1990 at the Grand Masters Tournament.

Four times Kenny posted wins at the U.S. National Championships and also captured the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival crown. His 1988 Olympic Games success brought Monday the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year award, as well as the Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year in 1989.

For his dual achievements as a stellar wrestler at every level and for his encouragement of youth wrestling, Kenny Monday is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.