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 Aristotle Svingos (right) receives his award from Nancy Skirpan, wife of the late Alex Skirpan (WV HOF '09) |
Aristotle Svingos -- "Medal of Courage"
Aristotle Svingos wrestled at Huntington High School 1970-72 and was a member of the track and cross country teams. As co-captain his senior year, he placed 3rd in the WV State Wrestling Tournament. In 1972, he finished 1st in the AAU WV State Open Freestyle Tournament with a 6-0 record. At Eastern Regionals at Eastern Kentucky University he placed 2nd and qualified for the Olympic Training Camp in Minnesota. Upon graduation, Aristotle attended Marshall University and majored in Education and Health. As a 1973 member of the M.U. Judo team sport club, he used freestyle and wrestling techniques to defeat black belts while only a white belt. He earned a brown belt in the art of Tae Kwon Do and won Bronze Medals in Forms and Free Fighting at the 23rd Annual U.S. Open Martial Arts Championship in 1996. He is co-owner of Victor's Cleaners and Launderers, a third generation family business since 1911 and Huntington's oldest continuous family run business. Having held numerous positions with the WV Dry Cleaning and Laundry Association, he is the longest serving board member (37 years), has been President twice, and Executive Director 10 years. For many years, he coached his children in T-ball, major league softball, YMCA Buddy Basketball, and middle school wrestling. Also he is active in the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity Alumni and Loyal Order of the Moose. Aristotle is a life-long active and devout member of St. George Greek Orthodox Church, an ordained Reader, and Parish Council official for numerous years. He served as District Governor of The Order of The Sons of Pericles. Also he is a member of the Order of AHEPA. He has worked the Huntington HUPCO, WSAZ, and WV State High School Wrestling tournaments or numerous years as an official scorer and is a supporter of Huntington High School Athletics. In 2013, Aristotle had a five bypass open heart surgery which led to the discovery of a rare blood cancer, Multiple Myeloma. It was compounded with further complications, an auto-immune disease, and a disease of the stem cells which led to his inability to not walk for a year. While surpassing all odds, he gives all credit to God, his faith, his doctors at University of Cincinnati BMT, and his loving family and friends. He feels personal attributes of strength, intestinal fortitude, and perseverance to fight this battle were developed largely in his career while wrestling. Aristotle and his loving wife of 30 years, Janet, reside in Huntington. They are the proud parents of three children, Lambros, Alexandra, Marie Simone, and a beautiful granddaughter Avery. Aristotle is also very proud of his son Anthony. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Aristotle Svingos with the "Medal of Courage" award, class of 2016. |
Mike Contic (right) receives the award from Bill Archer, President, West Virginia Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (WV HOF '07) |
Mike Contic -- "Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
Mike Contic is a 1970 graduate of Kingwood High School where he played football and baseball. He received his BA degree from Fairmont State in 1974 and his Masters Degree in Vocational Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976. He began his teaching career at the new Preston County Vocational Center in 1974. When the wrestling program at Central Preston High School was in jeopardy of being dropped in 1983 and at the request of his friend, he accepted and began his wrestling coaching career until his retirement in 2016. With over 300 wins, he had four state champions and seventeen state finalists. Mike truly cared about his wrestlers, but he is most proud of the outstanding young men his wrestlers became. Mike was a vocational teacher for 39 years, Head Wr3estling Coach for 29 years, and also served as athletic director at Preston High. His teams won several Big 10 conference championships and he was named Big 10 Coach of the Year five times as sell as Athletic Director of the Year. During his career, Coach Contic was instrumental in introducing Pee Wee Wrestling and the Middle School Wrestling Program to Preston County. He also served as Head Coach in Football, golf and track in Preston High Schools. Mike and Donna, his loving wife of 33 years, reside in Kingwood. They are abundantly blessed with three wonderful children - Anthony and Kim Moyers, Michael and Angela Contic, and Amber Moyers, and five grandchildren: Addison and Colin Moyers, and Maysa, Araya, and Zayd Contic. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Mike Contic with the "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2016. |
 Joann Cullen (right) receives her award from Diana Archer, Secretary, West Virginia Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (WV HOF '07) |
Joann Cullen -- "Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
Joann Lipscomb Cullen graduated from Point Pleasant High School in 1979. She continued her education at West Virginia University where she earned a B.S. in early childhood education and Master's Degree in Elementary Education. She began her wrestling career in 1980 as the wrestling cheerleader coach at Central Preston High School where her husband Jack Cullen was coaching wrestling. After returning to Mason County, she continued her involvement with wrestling as Jack's assistant coach at Point Pleasant until the birth of her son Justin. During those years when the children were young, she remained involved with wrestling by scoring various tournaments by hand at Point Pleasant. She also helped with brackets at the state tournament for several years. Joann returned to coaching in 2000 as a volunteer coach with David Darst at Point Pleasant Middle School when her son Justin started wrestling. From there she moved back to the high school as the assistant varsity coach from 2003-11. She has taught several girls, including daughter Jordan, how to score matches and work tables at tournaments. She has helped coach, train, nurture, and even been a mother figure to numerous wrestlers including eight state champions and two State AA Wrestling Championship Teams. Joann is still known as "Coach Momma" to many wrestlers at Point Pleasant. Joann and her husband of 36 years, Jack, reside in Mason County. They are the proud parents of two children Justin (Kiley) and Jordan (Tyler). The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Joann Cullen with the "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2016. |
Dr. Dan Doyle (right) receives his award from Roy Michael, Vice-President, West Virginia Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (WV HOF '05) |
Dr. Dan Doyle -- "Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
A 1973 graduate of Wheeling Central Catholic High School, Dan Doyle posted an outstanding career on the mats. He was a three-time place-winner in the Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling tournament, winning the OVAC individual title in 1972. He capped-off his scholastic wrestling career by being crowned the 1973 West Virginia State Champion at 112 lbs. Doyle also had a stellar four-year mat campaign at Allegheny (PA) College, where he became a Division III national qualifier and graduated in 1977. After college, Doyle's first coaching position was at Jefferson Union High School. There he kept the school's proud wrestling tradition going until moving to Buckeye South High School to initiate wrestling in 1985. At Buckeye South, which later became Buckeye Local High School after consolidation, Coach Dan Doyle had to start from scratch. Within only a few years the Buckeye wrestling program shines, winning back-to-back Ohio Valley Athletic Conference (OVAC) over-all team championships in 1996 and 1997 in Wheeling WV, two OVAC Dual Meet titles, and an appearance in the Division II Dual Meet Tournament. For his efforts, Coach Dan Doyle was named twice as both the district coach of the year and the OVAC coach of the year. A past president of the OVAC, Dr Doyle is now the tournament director of the prestigious OVAC Wrestling Championships held at the Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling. Dan Doyle and his lovely wife Cindy have three children: Sean (who wrestled for his father), Erin, and Megan. Sean initiated the mat program at Wheeling Jesuit University, which has quickly become a force to reckon with in the division II ranks. Like father, Like son. Dr. Dan Doyle has been dedicated to wrestling in the Wheeling , WV area for over 45 years. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Dr. Dan Doyle with the "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2016. |
Dick Edge (right) receives his award from Dr. Bill Welker, Member, Board of Directors, West Virginia Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (WV HOF '08) |
Richard "Dick" Edge -- "Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
Dick Edge was a 1954 graduate of Wheeling High School. After serving two years in the Army, he returned to West Liberty for his B.A. degree and was a four year letterman in football, three year All Conference, and Co-captain his senior year. He initiated wrestling programs at Tridelphia High School (1964), three Junior High feeders, and Warwood High School (1967) and the Junior High School. He also started the first Pee-Wee Wrestling program in Ohio County. Coach Edge's 1971 Warwood wrestling team went undefeated in dual meet competition. He produced the school's first WV State Wrestling Champion in 145 pounder Joe Matyskiela. From there, Dick also launched the wrestling career of John Vdovjak. He became a two-time WV State Champion and set an Ohio Valley record for 50 consecutive wrestling wins which has since been broken. After his years at Warwood, he went to Wintersville High in Ohio and started a Pee-Wee Program. In three years, they won the Eastern District Championship which was the first in any sport in school's history. Coach Edge remembers looking out over the eight mats at the Westbanco Civic Center when the OVACs first came to Wheeling, thinking "Wrestling has come a long way from the days us old coaches had to train our wrestlers in 'dungeon-like' facilities." As one of Dick's former wrestlers put it, "Coach Edge was my inspiration, not only in wrestling, but also in life. My interactions with people are based on what I learned from my Coach." Following his retirement from coaching, he became a school administrator, but continued to stay involved in every aspect of valley wrestling for the next 35 years, and has been involved totally 49 years and would not change a single thing! Dick and his wife Pat, of 54 years reside in St. Clairsville. They are the proud parents of three daughters, Lynn, Jenny, and Holly and have four grandchildren. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Richard "Dick" Edge with the "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2016. |
 Dale Slack (right) receives his award from George Keeney, Member, Board of Directors, West Virginia Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame (WV HOF '14) |
Dale Slack -- "Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
Dale Slack is a 1979 graduate of Hurricane High School. While at Hurricane, he played football, ran track, and wrestled for Hall of Fame member Mike Ellis. Dale is a two-time state champion at 167 pounds, winning the title in 1978 and 1979. With a career record of 68 wins and only 9 losses, including an undefeated 25-0 record his senior year, Dale also holds the distinction of never being pinned in a match. After high school graduation, he was selected to the WV USA Wrestling All-Star team. The team wrestled in a freestyle tournament in Chicago and traveled to Berlin, Germany, for a 10 day wrestling exchange trip. Having been awarded a partial athletic scholarship, Dale attended Fairmont State College where he was a two-year starter and three-year letterman for the Falcon's football team. After completing a B.A. degree in Education in 1984, he earned his Masters of Arts Degree in Educational Administration from West Virginia College of Graduate Studies in Charleston. While at Fairmont State College, Dale began his career in wrestling officiating with the Central WV Wrestling Board under the direction of Mike Stalnaker. After graduation in 1984, he moved back to Hurricane to start his teaching career at Winfield Middle School. It was at this point that he also began his coaching career as head wrestling coach at Hurricane Middle School and joined the Kanawha Valley Wrestling Board under the direction of Hall of Fame member George Keeney. Dale enjoyed several coaching stints in WV, serving as head football coach at Winfield Middle School, as assistant football coach at Poca High School, and as assistant football coach at Hurricane High School. Dale officiated wrestling for 17 years and called matches in 12 state tournaments. He was selected as West Virginia Wrestling Official of the Year in 1997. Thirty-three years into his educational career, Dale now serves as Computer Curriculum Specialist for Putnam County Schools and continues to be very involved with wrestling as a volunteer coach at Hurricane High School. Dale resides in Hurricane, WV, and has a son Dylan. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Dale Slack with the "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2016. |
