Dave Schultz
June 06, 1959 - January 26, 1996
He won World and Olympic championships in 1983 and '84, and later added three World silver medals and two bronzes, but Dave Schultz's quest for an eighth world-class medal was cut short when he was murdered in January of 1996.
By his own admission, Schultz "wasn't the greatest athlete in wrestling," but he was one of the most intelligent wrestlers in the history of the sport. Schultz once told one of his mentors, "I cheated! I learned HOW to wrestle." And thus he was a winner all his life.
Schultz was an NCAA titlist for Oklahoma in 1982 and he won 10 national championships in the international styles-eight in Freestyle and two in Greco-Roman. He won his first national crown in Greco-Roman at the age of 17 and was the nation's top Freestyle wrestler four times.
He won the 1984 Olympic berth in an epic battle with Hall of Famer Leroy Kemp, but yielded that spot to Kenny Monday during the next two Olympiads. Yet by 1993 he had returned to the No. 1 position and was training for the '96 Olympic Trials when he was shot and killed by his employer at Team Foxcatcher.
Schultz is the only American to win the legendary Tbilisi tournament twice, and he won the World Cup five times. He captured the Pan American Greco-Roman crown in 1977 and the freestyle gold 10 years later.
For all of his achievements on the mat, Schultz is best known as wrestling's greatest friend and diplomat, across the nation and around the world. He always had time to talk, he always wore a smile. His sportsmanship transcended national boundaries. He learned Russian so that he could communicate with other wrestlers, and he named his son Alexander, after a friendly rival in the USSR.
As a true champion on and off the mats, and the most-loved international ambassador for peace and friendship the wrestling world has ever known, David L. Schultz is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Awards:
Year
2015
|
Award
Medal of Courage
|
Chapter/Region
California
|
Year
1997
|
Award
Distinguished Member
|
Chapter/Region
National
|
All American Awards:
Season
1982
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Tournament
Division I
|
Weight
167
|
Place
1
|
Season
1981
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Tournament
Division I
|
Weight
158
|
Place
2
|
Season
1978
|
School
Oklahoma State
|
Tournament
Division I
|
Weight
150
|
Place
3
|
College Season Records:
Season
1982
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Class
Senior
|
Bouts
36
|
Wins
33
|
Losses
3
|
Ties
0
|
Falls
7
|
Win PCT.
91.67
|
Place
1st
|
Season
1981
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Class
Junior
|
Bouts
26
|
Wins
25
|
Losses
1
|
Ties
0
|
Falls
3
|
Win PCT.
96.15
|
Place
2nd
|
Season
1978
|
School
Oklahoma State
|
Class
Freshman
|
Bouts
36
|
Wins
30
|
Losses
5
|
Ties
1
|
Falls
10
|
Win PCT.
83.33
|
Place
3rd
|
Season
Career
|
Bouts
98
|
Wins
88
|
Losses
9
|
Ties
1
|
Falls
20
|
Win PCT.
89.8
|
All Rankings:
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
12/14/1981
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
12/31/1981
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
01/18/1982
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
01/31/1982
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
02/15/1982
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
02/27/1982
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1982
|
Rank Date
03/13/1982
|
Weight
167
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
12/29/1980
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
01/12/1981
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
01/26/1981
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
02/09/1981
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
02/26/1981
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
Season
1981
|
Rank Date
03/12/1981
|
Weight
158
|
Rank
1
|
School
Oklahoma
|
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