Three-time Iowa state high school champion David Kjeldgaard was the first national winner of our Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 1996.

David, who had a career high school record of 173-4, graduated first and was valedictorian of his class with a 4.0 GPA at Lewis Central Senior High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

He was an officer in the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes while also serving as an officer for the freshman, sophomore and junior classes. David was Student of the Year in Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, General Chemistry, Physics and Trigonometry and received the National Academy Math and Science Award.

He won six Junior Nationals titles, four in Greco-Roman and two in freestyle. To win his first freestyle title as a junior, he defeated TJ Williams, who would go on to win two NCAA titles and have a career record of 98-1 for Iowa Wrestling. To capture his second title as a senior, he defeated future NCAA champion and four-time Top-Three finisher Joe Heskett just to reach the finals, where he triumphed over Cael Sanderson, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame who went on to be an undefeated four-time NCAA champion, world champion and Olympic gold medalist.

David Kjeldgaard, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, wrestled at Louis Central High School for Keith Massey, who received the GBHOF Russ Smith Community Impact Award in 2018. A three-time Iowa state high school champion with a career record of 173-4, Kjeldgaard was the first national winner of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award in 1996. He won three Cadet National championships and five Junior National championships and placed seventh at the Junior World Championships in Russia in 1996. As a high school junior at Junior Nationals, he defeated T.J. Williams, a two-time national champion with a career record of 98-1 at the University of Iowa. In his senior year at Junior Nationals, he defeated NCAA champion and four-time Top Three finisher Joe Heskett to reach the finals, where he triumphed over a wrestler from Utah named Cael Sanderson. The eight combined national titles is a record that has been tied, but never broken. A true scholar athlete, Kjeldgaard was valedictorian of his class and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. His career at the University of Oklahoma was hampered and cut short by knee injuries, but he twice qualified for the NCAA tournament and was a Big 12 Conference runner-up in 2000.