He came out of the West as an "unknown" without collegiate experience or publicity, but when Russ Vis exploded into the national wrestling scene there was no one who could stand in his way.

After winning high school championships in Oregon, he joined the Olympic Club of San Francisco in 1916 and competed in club, city, Pacific Coast and regional tournaments, winning every one he entered.

His family moved to Los Angeles in 1919, leading Russ to the Los Angeles Athletic Club, where he was a life member for some 60 years. After dominating all competition in his own area, he traveled at his own expense to national freestyle tournaments in distant parts of the country, and won four consecutive National AAU championships, 1921 through '24, without ever losing a bout.

He reached the pinnacle of success in 1924 when he captured the gold medal at 145 pounds in the Olympic Games in Paris.

His own career was largely self-developed and self-sponsored, but he devoted half a century to the development and sponsorship of young wrestlers and other young athletes, and continued to encourage others to meet his own high standards.

He was a strong booster of wrestling at all levels from high school to the Olympic Games. Men like Vis provided the foundation for the tremendous growth of the sport of wrestling.

In appreciation of his great personal achievements as a wrestler, and his long association with the development of youth in sport, Russell John Vis is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.