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Tom Drake

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The second Frank Gotch Award winner is Tom Drake, a professional wrestler who scaled the heights of the state political scene in Alabama.

Drake was a star high school athlete in Alabama and at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. In college, he was a three-time conference wrestling champion and a standout football player. He played in two all-star football games and was also a top contender for the 1952 Olympic wrestling team.

While serving as a wrestling coach and assistant football coach at the University of Alabama, Drake served nine terms in the Alabama State Legislature, and was Speaker of the House (1982-87).

Wrestling pro for 22 years (from 1956-1978), he won numerous regional titles and challenged Lou Thesz for the NWA world title in 1962.

"We are proud to honor Tom in this fashion," said Lou Thesz. "He has led a very interesting life and has been a great friend to wrestling on many levels."

Bobby Managoff

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When it came time to pick the winner of the first-ever Frank Gotch Award, the name Bobby Managoff was the perfect choice.

The Frank Gotch Award is given annually to a wrestler who was a great athlete in the ring and helped make the sport more popular by his actions outside the ring.

"Bobby was a terrific wrestler and is a top-class guy all the way," said Lou Thesz. "Not only that, but his father actually traveled with Frank Gotch and knew him well. This is a great way to start this award, by selecting Bobby Managoff."

Managoff had his first pro match in 1936 at the age of 18. He estimates he wrestled over 4,000 matches during his 30-year ring career, travelling the U.S.

"I wrestled most of the top stars," said Managoff. "When you wrestled guys like Lou Thesz, Jim Londos and Verne Gagne, you also learned a lot. It was great experience."

The highlight of Managoff's career came in Houston in 1941 when he defeated Yvon Robert to win the world NWA heavyweight title. He and Robert engaged in a series of sold-out matches after the title switch.

Bobby also credits his father, Bob Managoff (real name Manoogian) and the Dusek Brothers for teaching him much of his wrestling.

"The Duseks were really something," said Mangoff. "Man, were they rough. And they could also wrestle!"

Bob Managoff Sr. and Gotch worked together for a year with the Sells-Floto Circus in 1916, a year before Gotch fell sick and died.

"My dad told me lots of stories about Gotch," said Managoff. "Dad really liked him and thought he was a great man.

Steve Williams

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Known as Dr. Death even during his college days, Steve Williams was a huge pro wrestling star with an extensive amateur wrestling background. He was a high school athletic standout at Lakewood, Colorado, and made a huge impact at the University of Oklahoma.

Competing at heavyweight for the Sooners, Williams was a four-time wrestling All-American. He finished as NCAA runnerup his senior year after dropping a close decision i the finals to Bruce Baumgartner, who went on to win 18 national titles and two Olympic gold medals. As a football player for the Sooners, Steve played in four major football bowl games.

As a pro wrestler, Williams worked for most of the major companies all over the world, and was a huge star in Japan. He won numerous major titles along the way. In 2004, he faced his biggest battle ever and underwent surgery for throat cancer. He battled back and today speaks to groups about his Christian faith and has written a book entitled, "How Dr. Death Became Dr. Life.

Dale Lewis

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Dale Lewis was a two-time NCAA champion at heavyweight for Oklahoma University, a two-time Olympian and a successful professional. But Dale took a strange path to greatness.

Born in 1935 and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he played football and basketball in high school but never wrestled. Entering the United States Army after high school, he discovered wrestling, and learned that he had a natural aptitude for the sport. In 1956, six months after he had started wrestling, Lewis earned a spot in Greco-Roman wrestling on the United States Olympic team that competed in Melbourne, Australia.

After discharge from the Army, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma after earning a spot on the Sooner team. He was NCAA heavyweight champion in both 1960 and 1961, and won the AAU national freestyle title in 1961, defeating most of the top amateur heavyweights in the nation. He made his second Olympic team in 1960.

Professionally, Lewis spent most of his career in Florida and won numerous regional titles, then ventured up to Canada late in his career. He wrestled as a pro for nearly two decades and died of leukemia on August 30, 1997.

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