For Edwin G. Corr, wrestling was a stepping stone to success, not the pinnacle.

A runner-up on a state championship team at Perry High School, Corr attended the University of Oklahoma on a wrestling scholarship.

Although he never won a championship, he earned letters on some of the Sooners' best-ever teams of the 1950s under legendary Hall of Fame coach Port Robertson.

After a stint in the United States Marines Corps, Corr entered the Foreign Service, and quickly proved himself to be the man to send to political hot spots around the world.

Ed served under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Bush.

From 1978 to 1980 he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters and spent time in Colombia, Iran, Pakistan and Southeast Asia.

He was the first of his Foreign Service class to earn Ambassador rank, serving as the United States Ambassador to Peru from 1980-81, to Bolivia from 1981-85, and to El Salvador from 1985-88.

In Peru, guerillas bombed his residence and the embassy.

In Bolivia, drug lords put a half-million dollar assassination reward on his head.

And in El Salvador, he served in the midst of a civil war.

In each country, he received awards for his outstanding service and in 1988, he was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Secretary of State.

Today, he serves as Senior Research Fellow at the International Programs Center at OU, sharing his knowledge with young Oklahomans.

For using tools honed in wrestling and forging unparalleled national career success, Edwin Corr is honored as an Outstanding American by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.