{"id":3298,"date":"2015-11-16T11:12:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T17:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/?p=3298"},"modified":"2015-11-16T15:17:33","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T21:17:33","slug":"first-inductee-for-2016-tragosthesz-hof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/11\/16\/first-inductee-for-2016-tragosthesz-hof\/","title":{"rendered":"First inductee for 2016 Tragos\/Thesz HOF"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4228484993\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>VIA PRESS RELEASE MONDAY&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chael Sonnen to receive George Tragos Award<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>WATERLOO, Iowa\u2014Wrestling\u2019s most colorful Mixed Martial Artist will be recognized by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. Chael Sonnen will receive the George Tragos Award at the 2016 George Tragos\/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend on <span data-term=\"goog_1070958539\">July 14-16<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>All-access passes to the George Tragos\/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend are available for $100. They can be pre-ordered by contacting the Dan Gable Museum at <a href=\"mailto:dgmstaff@nwhof.org\">dgmstaff@nwhof.org<\/a> or by calling <a href=\"tel:%28319%29%20233-0745\">(319) 233-0745<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The George Tragos Award is given to an exceptionally competitive wrestler who adapted his or her wrestling skills and competitive nature to excel in Mixed Martial Arts. Sonnen, who had successful tenures in wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts, currently works as an MMA analyst for ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis could not have happened to a better guy,\u201d said Sonnen. \u201cIt\u2019s about time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sonnen was an All-American at 190 pounds for the University of Oregon in 1998 and was a two-time Pac-10 conference runner-up. He also had a successful career in Greco-Roman wrestling, winning University National titles in 1999 and 2000 at 187.25 pounds. His overall MMA career record was 29-14-1 in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.<\/p>\n<p>The former MMA star is on the Global Force Wrestling roster.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2689506359\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cChael is one of the most dynamic figures in sports today,\u201d said Gerald Brisco, president of the George Tragos\/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame selection committee. \u201cHe is very deserving of this award.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>George Tragos, namesake of the award and the hall of fame, was one of the most feared submission wrestlers during the 1920s and 1930s. He wrestled and threw discus for the Greek Olympic team in 1920 and 1924. Tragos was also an AAU freestyle champion in 1919 at 158 pounds for the Gary, Indiana, YMCA. He worked with Don Faurot to revitalize the University of Missouri wrestling program in 1944.<\/p>\n<p>The Class of 2016 includes two Distinguished Members (one living and one posthumous) along with recipients of the Lou Thesz Award, Jim Melby Award, Frank Gotch Award, and the George Tragos Award.<\/p>\n<p>The Dan Gable Museum will release additional inductees and award winners in the coming weeks. A full schedule of events will be released on a later date.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2015 Hall of Fame induction class<\/strong><br \/>\nGeorge Tragos Award\u2014Chael Sonnen<br \/>\nLou Thesz Award\u2014TBA<br \/>\nJim Melby Award\u2014TBA<br \/>\nFrank Gotch Award\u2014TBA<br \/>\nDistinguished Member (living)\u2014TBA<br \/>\nDistinguished Member (posthumous)\u2014TBA<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3530213985\"><div id=\"pwtor-3884711428\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>VIA PRESS RELEASE MONDAY&#8230; Chael Sonnen to receive George Tragos Award WATERLOO, Iowa\u2014Wrestling\u2019s most colorful Mixed Martial Artist will be recognized by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. Chael Sonnen will receive <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/11\/16\/first-inductee-for-2016-tragosthesz-hof\/\" title=\"First inductee for 2016 Tragos\/Thesz HOF\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,51],"tags":[977,270,356,479,978,188,979],"class_list":["post-3298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_etc","category-news_mma","tag-chael-sonnen","tag-gfw","tag-global-force-wrestling","tag-mma","tag-tragos-thesz-hall-of-fame","tag-ufc","tag-waterloo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Sonnen_3x2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3298"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3301,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298\/revisions\/3301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}