Rocky Wiedeman said he had one goal as an official: "I always said if I did one match where I didn't make a mistake I was going to quit," Wiedeman said with a laugh. "But I never fulfilled that. You could have always been a little better, always done a little better job somewhere in the match. I always wanted to keep improving because I knew the wrestlers always deserved the best officiating possible." That simple goal kept Wiedeman on the business end of the whistle for 33 years, a career that saw him officiate at nearly every level of the sport. His career included 30 Colorado state high school championships, 15 collegiate national qualifying tournaments, four college national tournaments, 10 national freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments (three of which he served as the head official), the Junior World freestyle team trials and countless youth tournaments throughout the years. And those are just the highlights. "If there was wrestling going on somewhere, my wife (Carole) and I were usually there," he said. "She'd drive for me when I did college matches. We'd do five days in a row and I would sleep in the back of the van while she drove. She loved wrestling as much as I did." Wiedeman, who still lives in Monte Vista, was also instrumental in helping build youth programs throughout the San Luis Valley. Those programs helped spawn some of the state's most successful high school programs. "After I got out of the service I wanted to stay involved because I always enjoyed the people who were around wrestling," he said. "When we started those programs, I was just trying to help the kids get a head start." Wiedeman was never technically a coach and was not a teacher, but he was drawn to the sport at a young age and his love for wrestling never diminished. "I always loved wrestling because it's basically an individual thing," Wiedeman said. "You can't blame it on a guy not passing you the ball, a guy not blocking for you. You either do it or you don't "” there's no excuse. The harder you work, the better you will be. There's an amount of personal sacrifice involved and I think that's what makes it special" When he started officiating, Wiedeman was not familiar with freestyle or Greco-Roman. But, "Once I got involved, I loved it. I did national opens, Olympic Trials matches, all those things, and it was exciting. The more matches I did, the more I improved." Still, despite his long and successful career, Wiedeman never imagined a Hall of Fame induction. "It's a big honor," he said. "When I started that little program in Monte Vista 48 years ago, I never thought something like this would come of it."