Hall of Fame Banquet Program Icon 2000 Banquet Program – Download Here

2000 Hall of Fame Inductees

JOHN AZEVEDOinterview
John has established himself as one of California’s most accomplished native sons in the sport of wrestling. As a competitor, his record was exemplary. John was California’s inaugural two-time State champion while competing for Modesto’s Grace Davis High School. He was a Junior National Freestyle Champion and Outstanding Wrestler; three-time NCAA Division II Champion; undefeated NCAA Division I National champion his senior year at Cal State Bakersfield; National Open Freestyle Champion; 4th in the World Championships, and a member of the 1980 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling team for the United States. John has a Hall of Fame career as a coach at Calvary Chapel High School, winning seven CIF State Champions

RUSS CAMILLERI
Without a doubt Russ is one of the most successful and prolific home grown wrestlers to ever come out of the state of California. Russ was a member of two Olympic teams (1960 & 1964) and won twelve National AAU Championships between 1960 and 1972 (seven Greco-Roman and five Freestyle). In that period he was voted the Outstanding Wrestler six times – a record that still stands. He started his wrestling career at Campbell HS where he won two Northern California Invitational titles. He attended San Jose State University, winning the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate title in 1958. As an Air Force Officer, he won six Interservice Championships and was a CISM (International Military games) Champion. One of his proudest accomplishments was winning the Naval Training Center Tournament in San Diego, a record 13 years in a row.

MARK DiGIROLAMO
Mark wrestled for Harbor and Santa Cruz High Schools. In 1972 Mark capped a phenomenal four year-high school career by winning an unprecedented four straight Northern California Invitational championships thus becoming the first and only wrestler to accomplish this feat. Mark won his titles at 95,103,112, and 120 pounds. His 148-3-2 high school career record was won a national scholastic record. Mark won the 1976 NCAA Division I championship at 118 pounds while competing for Cal Poly. He was honored as a high school All-American and a collegiate All-American.

LYNN DYCHE – interview
Lynn attended Hayward High School (1952-55 and Cal Poly 1956-60) and coached for 17 years at Andrew Hill and Oak Grove High Schools in San Jose. He was selected as the California, District 8 and National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year. He was a high school and college wrestling official for 35 years and commissioner of the college officials association for fifteen years and was the head official of Community College and High School State Championships for 15 years. He has been the State Editor for Wrestling USA magazine since 1973. Lynn organized and directed the First California State CIF Wrestling Tournament in 1973 and was one of the original organizers of the Bay Area Wrestling Association and the Santa Clara Wrestling Association. He has served as the California USA Wrestling International Exchange director for the past 12 years and has taken six teams to Japan. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1996. Lynn took the initial leadership role in organizing the California Wrestling Hall of Fame.

JACK FERNANDEZinterview
Jack amassed a phenomenal coaching dual meet record at Mira Costa High School of 223-34-1. In addition, his teams won 65 tournaments, 17 league championships and 5 CIF Southern titles. He coached record 22 individual CIF-SS champions and 57 other place winners. Jack officiated for 42 years including both the NCAA and National AAU Championship tournaments. Because of his commitment and dedication to the sport of wrestling, Jack received many honors including South Bay and Southern California Coach of the year, National Coaches Association District 8 Wrestling Coach Of The Year, and he is the first Wrestling coach inducted into the CIF Southern Section Athletic Hall Of Fame.

GREG GIBSON –  interview
Redding CA, Shasta H.S., Shasta College, Universit of Oregon, U.S. Marine Corps. A high school CIF Section nd Northern California placerin 1972. Shasta College State placer in 1973. A Junior College and University All-American. USMC 1978 – 2005. A four time Military World Champion, a World Cup Greco-Roman Champion in 1980. The first wrestler to medal in three World Championships in three different styles (Freestyle-2nd, Greco-Roman-4th, Sombo-1st). A 13 time All Marine Champion, Pan Am Games Champion in 1980. A 1983 World placer, 1984 Olympic Greco-Roman Silver Medalist. 1988 Olympic Team coaching staff, 1988-1990 All Marine Wrestling Coach. Greg served in both the Desert Shield and Desert Storm compaign. He is presently the assistant coach at Shasta College.

JOE “GONZO” GONZALES
Joe took the art of taking his opponent down to a new level, establishing a single season record of 448 takedowns. Joe completed his collegiate season by posting a NCAA record of 55 wins and losing none. Some of his wrestling achievements include:
a) 3 time World Cup Champion
b) A U.S. Olympic Team member
c) NCAA Division 1 Champion
d) 2 time NCAA Division II Champion
e) 11 time AAU National Freestyle Champion
f) Tiblisi Tournament Champion (Soviet Union)
g) National High School Wrestling Champion
h) Inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame

VAUGHAN HITCHCOCK
Vaughan was an outstanding football player and three time Northern California wrestling champion at Hayward High School with a record of 101-2-0. He attended Washington State University where he won two Pacific Coast Intercollegiate titles with a record of 97-4-0 and was selected for the East-West football game. He coached high school wrestling at Castro Valley and Hayward High Schools, with a record of 72-1, winning five league championships, four CIF Section Championships and two Northern California Invitational team titles. He coached wrestling at Cal Poly SLO for 23 years with a record of 355-112-4. His team won 8 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. He coached 96 NCAA National place winners and he was twice selected NCAA Division II Wrestling Coach of the Year. Vaughan was selected as team leader of the 1976 USA Olympic Greco-Roman team and team leader and coach of the 1979 USA Freestyle Team. He was elected into the Helms Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994 and the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998.

DAVID LEE
Prior to entering high school, David was a World Schoolboy Freestyle Champion (1979) and the World Greco-Roman School Boy Champion (1981). His pre-high school wrestling record was 408-15. He attended Bella Vista High School where he was coached by his father, (Charlie Lee) and his four year record was 117-9. David was the first three time CIF State Champion. In 1984 he was selected as an All-American by Amateur Wrestling News and was selected to the prestigious All-American “Dream Team” by Wrestling USA Magazine. His collegiate career included being a two time PAC-10 Champion while wrestling at Stanford and two-time Big 10 Champion while wrestling for Wisconsin. He was a three time NCAA All-American, and in 1989 he won the NCAA Division I Championship. Dave also won numerous international wrestling titles including being crowned the Canada Cup Champion, Cerro Polado (Cuba) Champion and the Czechoslovakia Gran Prix Champion.

PAT LOVELL
A three sport athlete at Sequoia High School. Pat competed for Cal Poly (1956-60) where he was a three year varsity football letterman and four year varsity wrestler including winning the PCI Heavyweight Championship in 1958 and 1960. Pat placed in 13 National Freestyle and Greco-Roman championships. He was a member of the 1964 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team.. Pat started his coaching career at James Lick High School in San Jose where he coached Jim Plunkett and Dan Lloyd among many other outstanding wrestlers. He moved to Monta Vista High School, where his teams won numerous league championships, then to Cabrillo College where he was the wrestling coach and assistant football coach. This past year, Pat concluded his 42nd straight year of high school and college officiating. He has been considered one of the outstanding officials in the nation and officiated at 17 NCAA Division I, 17 Pac-10, 15 California State High School, 2 Jr World, and 17 National Open championship tournaments. He is the CCS Regional High School Commissioner, was instrumental in organizing the Bay Area Wrestling Association, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall Of Fame as an official.

BILL MARTELL
Bill has contributed immeasurably to wrestling in California since 1955. Instilling character and self-discipline, he has coached with honor at the middle school through college and Olympic levels. In addition to his head coaching position at U.C. Berkeley, Bill has served in an executive capacity as chairman of the National Greco-Roman Committee for the United States and National Wrestling Coaches Association. He has served as the Head Coach for the USA Elite Wrestling Team and been on the coaching staff of numerous World Championship, Olympic, and World Cup Greco-Roman teams. He has been extremely active in organizing international exchange trips for high school and college wrestlers throughout the world. Bill is currently the director of the annual Concord Cup International Greco-Roman Tournament.

STEVE SANCHEZ
The only California high school wrestling coach to have coached State CIF championship teams at two California high schools – Merced (1980) and Antioch (1988). Steve attended Antioch High School (1964-67) where he was a four-year varsity wrestler. He then attended Diablo Valley College where he was a two-time conference champion. He concluded his collegiate wrestling career at Portland State University in 1970. Steve coached at Merced High School 1971-80 where his teams won six CIF Section titles. He coached numerous CIF State champions including future NCAA Div I champions Adam and Dan Cuestas, Roger Roberts, Charles Shelton & Jason Verduzco. In 8 years, Steve’s Merced teams placed 5 times in the top 5 teams at the state tournament. He moved to his alma mater, Antioch High School in 1981, where he coached wrestling for 10 years. His teams won two CIF Section Championships and he coached two state champions and 8 state placers. Sanchez was the National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1981 and the California H.S.Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1987 as well as the National District 8 Coach of the Year in 1987.

MARK SCHULTZ
He is one of the most successful and fierce wrestlers in the history of wrestling in the world. In 1978 he started his wrestling career by winning the California CIF State High School Wrestling Tournament. Wrestling for Palo Alto High School. Mark continued his success by winning three NCAA Division I National Championships (81, 82, & 83) wrestling for the University of Oklahoma. On the international scene we won the Gold Medal at the 1985 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1985 and 1987 he won the World Championship. He also won four U.S. Open titles. Mark was an assistant wrestling coach for Stanford, Villanova, U.S. Air Force Academy and BYU. Since 1984 he has been the head Wrestling coach at Brigham Young University.

JOE SEAY – interview
Joe started his wrestling career at Wellington High School in Kansas. He attended Kansas State University and was team captain for three years. He won three National AAU Greco-Roman titles and was runner up twice in Freestyle. He was voted the Outstanding Wrestler at the prestigious Midlands Tournament. His coaching career began at South High School Bakersfield (1964-72) where was selected as the National High School Coach of the Year. In 1972 he became the head coach at Cal State Bakersfield. His successful program, highlighted by 7 National Division II team championships, won him NCAA Division II Coach Of the Year honors three times. He then moved to Oklahoma State University in 1984 where he won the NCAA division I team title and was selected as Division I Coach of the Year. Joe has been head coach of the U.S. Goodwill Games team, head coach of the USA World Team , winning the USA’s first team title, and in 1996 he was the head coach of the Olympic Wrestling Team at Atlanta.

DEAN SENSENBAUGH –  interview
One of the founding fathers of the California state Junior College Tournament – 1959. He holds the coaching record for the most California J.C. wins. Dean coached at Modesto Junior College 1957-1985 with a record of 374-78-2. Inducted into the Modesto J.C. Hall of Fame as an athlete and coach. Dean attended Modesto High School, Modesto Junior College, San Jose State and earned his master’s degree at Stanford University. He served during World War II with the Merchant Marines and the eleventh Airborne Division

WILLIAM T (BILL) SMITH
Raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bill won two NCAA titles at Iowa State Teachers College and 3 National AAU titles (1949-51). In 1952 he capped his Amateur Wrestling career with a gold medal at the Olympic Games held in Helsinki, Finland. His Rock Island, Illinois team won the State High School Championship in 1956 after which he coached a highly successful team at the University of Nebraska. In 1960 he became the head coach at the San Francisco Olympic Club, where his teams set some unprecedented records. From 1960-65 his teams won nine National AAU Championships, five in Freestyle and four in Greco-Roman and he had six wrestlers on the 1964 Olympic Wrestling Team. His Clayton Valley H.S. team won the 1977 California State CIF Championship, thus he became one of the few coaches to win state high school championships in two different states. Bill was also instrumental in the organization of the Bay Area Wrestling Association. In 1978 Bill was inducted into the National Hall of Fame. In 1979 he was inducted into the Helms California Wrestling Hall of Fame.

JOHN WOODS
John graduated from Redwood High School in Visalia in 1964 where he won first team honors in football and wrestling. He then attended Cal Poly where he was two-time NCAA Division II finalist winning the championship in 1969. John concluded his collegiate wrestling career in 1969 by placing second at the NCAA Division I Championships. He began his coaching at Orange Glen High School where his record was 45-9-2 winning two league titles and CIF runner-up in 1973. John moved on to coach at Palomar College from 1973-1988. His Palomar teams were 179-19-3 and won five Community College State Championships. John was voted California Community College Coach of the Year four years (1978, 81, 83, and 85). John was also voted the NCAA Community College Coach of the Year in 1979, 84, 85, and 88.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.