Class of 2000

Sandy Stevens,

Glen Ellyn

For more than three decades, Sandy Stevens has been speaking in support of wrestling. A leader amoung the sports vast corps of volunteers, Sandy has been "that lady announcer" at hundreds of events ranging from high school dual meets to the Olympic Games.

As a full-time journalist, Sandy serves as community ambassador and feature writer for the Beacon News, a large regional daily newspaper in Aurora, IL. She is a former high school English and journalism teacher. Sandy and her husband, Robert "Bear" Stevens, are graduates of Northern Iowa University. When Bear became head coach in 1967 at a brand-new high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he needed an announcer for the four-team, season-opening meet. He asked
Sandy to sit at the microphone, welcome people and assign wrestlers to the two mats. History took its course from there.

Since that time Sandy has announced all 27 of the Junior Nationals, traditionally the world's largest tournament. She has been the Co-announcer at the 1998 World FILA Junior Freestyle Championships, 1984 & 1996 Olympic Games, 1995 Senior World Frestyle Championships, numerous National Senior Open Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships, and the NCAA Division I National Championships (since 1982). She has also been involved with Cadet, Junior, and Espoir World Championships, numerous Pan-American Championships and the Midlands Wrestling Championships since 1985.

In 1998 the United States National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum honored Sandy with the Order of Merit Award She was honored in 1998 by the IWCOA as a 'Friend of Wrestling" She has also been the recipient of the International "Exceptionelle" ranking by USA Wrestling and the USA National Legion of Merit.