Every university welcomes home-grown talent. So when Indiana was building a wrestling power in the early 1930s, it was happy to find a young state champion, Dick Voliva, right at home in Bloomington.

As a sophomore he was a member of the Hoosier team that claimed the 1932 NCAA championship, first ever for a Big Ten school.

He amassed individual honors the next two years, reaching the national finals in '33 and winning both Big Ten and NCAA titles as a senior, closing with a 48-4 record. He also starred in football, and as a senior was presented a special award for bringing honor and distinction to his university.

As a high school and college wrestler, Voliva had competed in Freestyle, winning several regional tournaments and in 1932 reaching the National AAU finals. During a two-year term as graduate assistant at Ohio State, he placed third in 1935 and captured the national title in 1936. Then, in the Olympics at Berlin, he earned a silver medal at 174 pounds.

On returning from the Olympics, he joined the faculty at Montclair State in New Jersey and soon launched a wrestling program there, serving as coach until World War II brought a four-year interruption. He had been commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army upon graduation in 1934, and during active duty he rose in rank to lieutenant colonel.

Voliva returned to New Jersey in 1946, but at the state university, Rutgers. He coached there for 25 years, guiding his teams to 148 victories against 85 losses and eight draws. He was a leader among his colleagues, serving five years on the NCAA rules committee, two of them as chairman. He was president of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association and of the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

As a wrestler of outstanding achievement and as an example of sportsmanship and leadership throughout a long and illustrious coaching career, Richard Lawrence Voliva is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.