For more than three decades, Sandy Stevens has been speaking for and about wrestling. A leader among the sport's vast corps of volunteers, Sandy has been "that lady announcer" at hundreds of events ranging from high school dual meets to the Olympic Games.

The full-time journalist from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was chosen by the Distinguished Members of the Hall of Fame to receive the 1998 Order of Merit as an ambassador for wrestling.

Sandy and her husband, Robert "Bear" Stevens, are graduates of Northern Iowa, where he wrestled for Hall of Famer Bill Koll. When Bear became head coach in 1967 at a brand-new high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he needed an announcer for the four-team, season-opening meet. He asked Sandy to sit at the microphone, welcome people and assign wrestlers to the two mats.

Three years later they held a USA Wrestling district freestyle tournament. After she announced that, Sandy was invited to call the state meet. "Then Dave McCuskey and Gary Kurdelmeier asked me to do the first Junior Nationals at the University of Iowa," she recalls. "That led me to announcing Iowa dual meets, and began my association with USA Wrestling." What an association that has been!

Sandy has announced all 27 of the Junior Nationals, traditionally the world's largest tournament. She has worked USA Wrestling nationals at all levels, along with Olympic and World team trials.

After calling Division III and Division II NCAA tournaments, she joined Ed Aliverti at the Division I nationals in 1982 and they have been the premiere collegiate announcing team ever since. They worked together at the Olympic Games of 1984 and 1996.

On her own, she has announced Cadet, Junior, Espoir and Senior World Championships, the Pan American Games, the Midlands, high school tournaments from coast to coast, and a host of regional, national and international events.