STILLWATER, Okla. – Six contributors to the sport of wrestling will be honored Sunday, Oct. 12, by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Coaches Ronnie James, Kenny Nelson and Mike Reding; sportswriter John Klein; announcer Lori May and official Howard Seay all will be inducted with Lifetime Service to Wrestling Awards, an honor given annually to coaches, officials and contributors who have given a minimum of 20 years of service to the sport of wrestling. The banquet and induction ceremony will be at the Jim Thorpe Museum in Oklahoma City. A reception begins at 3 p.m. with dinner and the ceremony to follow at 4 p.m.

Reservations are $50 per person and are available online at www.ok-nwhof.ticketleap.com or by telephoning the National Wrestling Hall of Fame at (405) 377-5243.

Following are brief bios of each honoree:

Ronnie James was the head wrestling coach at Del City High School from 1988-2014 for a total of 26 years. Highlights of his career include 21 state champions, 81 state placers, 18 district dual championships, and a Dual State championship in 1992. James has received many accolades including 6A/5A Coach of the Year in 2014, OCA All Class Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1992, Region 8 Coach of the Year in 1992, and OWCA 5A Coach of the Year in 1992. Before coming to Del City, James was the assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Central Oklahoma where he helped coach teams to three consecutive NAIA Championships. As a wrestler, he was a four-time All-American and three-time NAIA Champion for the Bronchos. James was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UCO Hall of Fame in 2003.

John Klein may not be a wrestling coach, but his contributions to the sport are nothing short of astounding. His reporting career began as a high school student writing for the Perry Daily Journal. Since then, he has used the power of print to promote wrestling and all of the many Oklahoma athletes that have participated in the sport. After graduating from wrestling powerhouse Perry, Klein attended Oklahoma State University where he honed his writing skills covering the Cowboys. He served as sports editor of the Daily Ardmoreite from 1976-78 before joining the Tulsa World as a sports writer. He left Tulsa for a stint at the Houston Post covering the Southwest Conference, but returned to the Tulsa World in 1990. He became the World’s sports editor in 1995 and since 2005, has continued to serve the paper as a leading sports columnist. In 2013, Klein was named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. He has also been honored with the Perry High School Alumni Honor Roll, the Oklahoma Wrestling Coaches Association Sports Writer of the Year eight times, Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year in 2000, and has won numerous writing awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists.

Lori May began running local tournaments in the mid 1980's and became a pairings official with USA Wrestling which led to a strong working relationship with the late Bob Dellinger, a pairings master for USA Wrestling who also spent time on the microphone announcing at Oklahoma State University wrestling matches. Dellinger encouraged May to fill in for him as an announcer at a youth wrestling tournament in Warrensburg, Mo. Soon after, he introduced her to the man who would become a partner in announcing at tournaments around the country, Don Blasingame. Together the two served for years as the voices of the Oklahoma State High School Championships. May continues to volunteer her voice at tournaments around the country, including the U.S. Open in Las Vegas, Cadet Nationals, Junior Nationals, the Junior Duals, the Roller Wrestling Tournaments, the Oklahoma High School Dual State Championships, the Oklahoma High School State Championships, the Reno Tournament of Champions, North Eastern A&M (NEO) Junior College in Miami, Okla., and various high school matches.

Kenny Nelson began wrestling at the age of nine for the Country Estates Elementary in Midwest City. After helping lead Midwest City High School to the 1974 state championship, Nelson wrestled for the University of Oklahoma where he immediately impacted the Sooners, winning the 1975 Big Eight championship. He earned All-America honors twice finishing third in the NCAA tournament at 126 pounds in both 1976 and 1978. After college, he coached Okarche and Tonkawa to winning records before returning to his Midwest City alma mater to coach. He led the Bombers to six state championships and two dual state championships. Individual wrestlers won 27 state titles under his tutelage. He was named high school coach-of- the-year six times, national coach-of-the-year two times, and was named to the Midwest City High School Wall of Fame and to the Midwest City Hall of Fame. Twice his teams were ranked the No. 1 team in the nation. Nelson served a five-year term with the NCAA National Executive Committee.

Mike Reding took Duncan High School wrestling to new heights while coaching there. A state champion and three-time finalist for Stillwater High School, Reding attended Oklahoma State University. In his first year as a Cowboy, he won a Big Eight championship and finished second in the NCAA tournament. In all, he earned All-America honors three times and compiled an overall record of 46-9 as a member of the OSU team that set a record for consecutive dual victories that still stands today. Upon graduation from OSU, he went to coach for one year in Bloomfield, Iowa before returning to his home state to coach in Duncan for 20 years. He led Duncan to its first-ever state championship in 1980. His teams went seven consecutive years—76 matches-- without a dual loss. Two of his former wrestlers won collegiate national championships, two-time NCAA champion Ricky Stewart for Oklahoma State and NAIA champion Jack O’Connor for Central Oklahoma. Reding was named All-State Wrestling Coach in 1975 and Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1981 by the Wrestling Coaches Association. In 1992 he was inducted into the Duncan High School Athletics Hall of Fame.

After a successful college wrestling career, Howard Seay turned his attention to officiating, spending 21 years behind the whistle. Seay officiated 19 high school regional tournaments, 17 state high school tournaments, four junior college regional tournaments, and one NCAA Division II national dual tournament. After retiring from officiating in 2007, he coached the Jenks Youth Wrestling Club, serving as its president in 2012-2013. Seay was a high school state runner-up and All-State wrestler in 1981 for Sapulpa High School. He attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M where he earned All-America honors in 1983. His success continued at the University of Central Oklahoma (then Central State University) where he was a two-time NAIA All-American and helped lead his team to national championships in 1985 and 1986. Seay compiled an overall collegiate record of 119-26.