CRESCO — Dedicated to the promotion of amateur wrestling, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame has, for 48 years, placed deserving individual into their Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2018 will be inducted at the 49th annual Awards Banquet April 9, joining 125 prior honorees. Among the four to be recognized this year is former Perry head coach Steve Hamilton.
Hamilton was a two-time state champion at Emmetsburg. He had a sparkling college career at Iowa State University, where he was a four-time All-American. Hamilton had coaching stints at the University of Northern Iowa, University of Nebraska and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before becoming Bluejay head coach in 2007, a position he kept through the 2011, after which he left to continue his coaching career in Georgia.
Joining Hamilton in the Hall of Fame this year will be Lisbon star Shane Light, the eighth four-time state champion in Iowa history.
Algona state champ Kirk Myers will also be inducted. Myers starred at UNI, winning three Division III national titles. Those wins sent him to the Division I national tourney, where he earned All-American status three times at 190 pounds.
Also entering the Hall of Fame will be Lennie Zalesky, a state champ at Cedar Rapids Prairie. A three-time Big Ten champion at Iowa and three-time All-American, he was twice a national runner-up and had a stellar high school and college coaching career.
The awards banquet will be held at the Cresco Country Club, with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and the banquet and ceremony to start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and advance registration is required. The Cresco Chamber of Commerce is selling tickets to the event and can be reached at 563-547-3434.
The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame is located in the Cresco Welcome Center at the corner of Highway 9 and Elm Street. The venue is open 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
