STILLWATER, Okla. – Seven contributors to the sport of wrestling will be honored Sunday, Oct. 11, by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Edward Evey, A.L. Haizlip, Ellis Holt, Jay Keel, Gene Knight, Kenny Ritchie and Larry Winnard will be honored with a banquet and induction ceremony at 4 p.m. in Midwest City at the Sheraton Midwest City Hotel at the Reed Conference Center. A cocktail reception will begin at 3 p.m. with dinner and the ceremony to follow at 4 p.m. Reservations are $45 per person and can be purchased online at www.nwhof-ok.ticketleap.com and are being accepted at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater.

Six recipients of the Class of 2009 will be inducted with Lifetime Service to Wrestling Awards, an honor given annually to those coaches, officials and contributors who have given a minimum of 20 years of service to the sport of wrestling, to their communities, and most importantly, to the young people they have coached, taught and inspired. Jay Keel will be inducted as an Outstanding American, someone with a wrestling background that has excelled in other walks of life. Evey began coaching at Kingfisher High School in Aug. of 1981 and continues to this day. He has amassed a career record of 235 wins in his 23 years as head coach as well as 11 district championships and two state Runner-Up finishes. Evey is a four-time Western Wrestling Conference Coach of the Year, Oklahoma Coaches Association (3OCA) Regional Coach of the Year, OCA All State Coach of the Year and two-time Central Oklahoma Wrestling Officials Association Coach of the Year. While Haizlip was not a varsity wrestler himself, his passion for the sport of wrestling has proven him to be a team player. He began giving back to the sport that “taught me so much” by starting a freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling room at Moore High School in 1989. Soon thereafter, he picked up a whistle and began officiating freestyle and Greco-Roman matches as a member of the USA Wrestling Officials’ Association. Where Haizlip makes his most significant contributions to the sport is as a public address announcer. While being the announcer for all Oklahoma Sooner home wrestling events, Haizlip finds time to announce such prestigious events as the Cliff Keen Tulsa Nationals, USA Wrestling Junior Nationals, and many more state and national events. Holt began his coaching career in 1983 and has been coaching non-stop. In 1984, he began coaching at Central Junior High School and Lawton High School. His wrestling team at Central Junior High was recognized as Junior High State Champions in 1990. Later that year, Holt moved to Eisenhower High School and earned the school five city championships, three district championships, and four conference championships. In 2000, Holt moved to MacArthur High School and earned the school several City, District, and Conference Championships. In addition, MacArthur High took the Runner-Up spot in 2001-02 in the State Championships. Holt was honored as Junior High Coach of the Year in 1990, All-State Coach of the Year in 2004-05, and named Region Four Coach of the Year in 1995,’97, 2001, ’03, ’04, ’05, and ’06. Knight coached for Southeast High School from 1969-’87, and U.S. Grant High School from 1987-’98 earning an overall record of 179-160-1. He led the two schools to eight All-City Championships, four Capital Conference Championships, one Yukon tournament Championship, one Regional Championship and four top ten team finishes at the State Championships. He was awarded the 1988 All-State Coaches honor, as well as the Ed Jacobson Oklahoma Coach of the Year in 1998. In his own wrestling career, Knight wrestled in high school and was named an All-City Champion, Mid-State Conference Champion, and placed second in Regionals and second in State. After playing football at the University of Oklahoma, Knight found himself in the 1970 Mexico City International Games wrestling in the heavyweight class, and earning gold medal. He has taught and coached in the Oklahoma City public school system for more than 40 years. For the last 28 years, Ritchie has officiated tournaments across the State and across our Nation. He has officiated more than 60 high school, Dual State, All-State, and Regional tournaments in Oklahoma. In addition, to his impressive high school officiating career, Ritchie continues to add to his officiating resume of collegiate duals meets across the country, the NCAA Division I and Division II National Championships, NCAA Eastern Regional tournament, National Wrestling All-Star Classic and Big 12/Big 8 tournaments. He was honored as the Oklahoma High School Official of the Year for eight years running through the 2004-05 school years, and honored again for the award in 2008-09. Winnard coached junior high wrestling from 1974-76 and earned a Junior High All State Championship for Hefner Junior High in 1976. In the same year, he was honored as the Oklahoma Junior High Wrestling Coach of the Year. Later, he moved on to become coach of Putnam City High School where his teams earned the 4A State Runner-Up Championship in 1977 and 4A State Championship Team Title in 1978. The Oklahoma Coaches Association honored Winnard as District 4 Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1977 and in Class 4A Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1978. Winnard has served as athletic trainer, coach or athletic director for the Putnam City School District for 35 years. Winnard wrestled and graduated from college at Oklahoma State University. Keel will be inducted as an Outstanding American. While his collegiate wrestling career was ended early due to a knee injury, Keel wrestled in high school and placed third in the 1976 Class 3A Oklahoma State Tournament. After college, Keel became an ordained and licensed minister in 1988. He served as a youth pastor for more than 10 years and worked for 16 years to establish a Youth and Family Services team of 150 in the Chickasaw Nation. Currently, Keel serves as Division Administrator for the Chickasaw National Youth and Family Services. “In my ministry, my family life and all of my work I continue to draw from the character and strength developed through participating in wrestling,” Keel said. For more information on the honorees or to purchase tickets for the banquet, contact Victoria Stuettgen at the NWHOF by phone at (3405) 377-5243 or email at info@wrestlinghalloffame.org.