In its roll of Lifetime Service to Wrestling award recipients, the Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame includes many individuals who previously earned annual honors as coaches, officials, or wrestlers, and many who also have ties to Pennsylvania. Tim Hoden, a longtime outstanding official in the Lynchburg area, is the latest to join this distinguished group. 

A graduate and four-sport athlete at Sheffield High School in northwestern Pennsylvania, he received his degree in education from Clarion University, one of the small colleges with notable wrestling programs located throughout Pennsylvania. Hoden played football for the Golden Eagles and then explored the blue-collar world for three years as a lumberjack. 

He never lost his attachment to wrestling during these years, so that when he moved to the Lynchburg area and committed his life to educating others, he made sure, mainly through officiating, that wrestling was part of the mix. 

Meanwhile, he rose in the ranks of educational leadership with credentials and high-profile assignments. Hoden started at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, teaching science and coaching football and wrestling. He soon became an administrator at and then moved to neighboring Campbell County High School to become director of operations. Hoden has returned to Amherst County as chief operating officer for their public schools. He has his doctorate in education and his dissertation "Concussions in High School Athletics" has been used in research by the Virginia High School League.

Hoden finds time for fishing and hunting while also competing in the occasional triathlon, including the Lake Placid Ironman in 2015. He and his wife Amanda have a large blended family with their children Abby (23) and Parker (20) and stepchildren Jacob (23), Lucas (21) and Nicolas Moore (20). 

He shares that he has reached the point in his career where he "still enjoys being on the mat, but also gets inspired by giving back and training younger officials."