By Roger Moore
STILLWATER, Okla. – Six contributors to the sport of wrestling will be honored Sunday, Nov. 9, by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Pat Fitzgerald, Dr. Robert Hines, Jerry Kuntz, Representative Ray McCarter, Archie Randall and Wes White will be honored with a banquet and induction ceremony at 4 p.m. in Oklahoma City at the Clarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center. A cocktail hour will begin at 3 p.m. with dinner and the ceremony to follow at 4 p.m. Tickets are $45 per person and are available at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater. Four will be inducted with Lifetime Service 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. White will be honored with the state of Oklahoma’s first Medal of Courage, while McCarter will be inducted as an Outstanding American. Fitzgerald began officiating junior high and high school junior varsity matches in 1980. He worked his first Oklahoma State tournament in 1982 and worked his first collegiate match in 1990. He has since worked 17 NCAA Division-I Championships, including nine finals matches, and 12 Big 10 Conference Tournaments. A native of Edmond, Fitzgerald is the current Vice President of the National Wrestling Officials Association. An orthopedic surgeon, Hines has served as team physician for Midwest City High School since 1988; the University of Oklahoma since 1993; Sunkist Kids since 1997; University of Central Oklahoma since 2003; and El Reno High. Hines, a 1977 Texas A&M University graduate, has also served as team physician for USA Wrestling on trips to Ukraine, Turkey and Slovakia, along with working at the 2005 World Championships in Hungary, 2007 World Championships in Azerbaijan and the 2007 Pan American Championships in Brazil. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, Hines served as team physician for wrestling and judo. The Edmond native has also organized medical coverage for the state of Oklahoma’s Dual State Championships, Regionals and State Tournaments since 1996 and for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Kuntz coached high school wrestling from 1979-2000 and compiled a 197-84 dual record. He retired from coaching in 2000 after stints at Chickasha, Clinton, Hefner, Putnam City and Casady. His teams won eight conference championships and finished in the Top 5 at the State Championships five times. Kuntz coached 14 individual state champions and 31 state placers. As a coach on the staff of the Oklahoma Team from 1981-94, Kuntz helped produce 116 Junior All-Americans and 84 Cadet All-Americans in freestyle and Greco-Roman. Kuntz led Oklahoma’s Junior freestyle team to three consecutive national titles from 1988-90. The native of Yukon has also made his mark as an official since 1987, working high school, USA Wrestling and international events. He has attended the last 28 Junior/Cadet National Championships, was the Oklahoma Official of the Year in 1998 and USA Wrestling’s Official of the Year in 2006. He has worked 84 National Age Group Championships and the last 12 Oklahoma high school state tournaments. Kuntz is currently in his third term on the USWOA Executive Board. Randall was named Putnam City School Building Teacher of the Year in 1992. A year later he was named the Oklahoma Coaches Association Junior High Coach of the Year. He hasn’t looked back since. Randall, who began coaching wrestling in 1982, led a dynasty at El Reno High School that included 11 State championships in 13 years and a dual record of 234-16. Randall coached 54 individual state champions, 52 state placers, 22 All-State wrestlers and helped his athletes earn 44 scholarships to college institutions. As director of USA Oklahoma Wrestling, Randall’s teams won seven Junior Duals titles and two Junior Team championships. In 2006, Oklahoma City University put Randall in charge of its new men’s NAIA program. The Stars finished 10th at the 2008 NAIA Championships. OCU added a women’s program in 2007 and Randall was named coach. His first team went 11-4 in duals and won the NWCA National Dual Tournament. White, a state champion at Tulsa Hale, finished 30-9 and sixth at the 1988 NCAA Division I Championships for Oklahoma State. A year later he again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but a series of serious medical problems forced him to leave wrestling after the 1988-89 season. During that sophomore season, White began experiencing symptoms that would eventually be diagnosed as Ulcerative Colitis, a disease where inflammation develops in the large intestine. After surgery to remove his entire colon, White was off the mat for almost 3 ½ years. But in 1992 he returned to the mat, enrolling at Division-II Central Oklahoma. All he did was win back-to-back D-II titles, not losing a match to a D-II wrestler in his two seasons in Edmond. White, now a medical sales representative, remained at UCO as a graduate assistant from 1994-97 and took over the program at Yukon High School in 1997. The Millers finished 38-7 in duals under White’s watch and two of his wrestlers earned State titles. McCarter will be inducted as an Outstanding American. Although he never won a championship in high school or suited up for one college match, McCarter, a three-term member of the House of Representatives, has spent the better part of 40 years promoting wrestling in Oklahoma. A coach at Okarche, Mustang and Marlow Central, the Marlow native also officiated from 1970-85. He was awarded a pair of District Coach of the Year honors. McCarter worked with the OWCA Camps in Shawnee, providing support and facilities to train for international freestyle competitions. While working with Leonard Shelton and Charles Hetrick, as well as many he coached, McCarter observed the dedication and sacrifice that helped lay the foundation necessary for the public service he has performed since returning from a tour in Vietnam in 1969. For more information on the honorees or to purchase tickets for the banquet, contact Krista Graff at the NWHOF by phone at (3405) 377-5243 or email at kgraff@wrestlinghalloffame.org.