Russ Hellickson

Russ Hellickson won three AAU titles, and three consecutive Pan-American Games gold medals (1971, 1975, 1979), but was never quite able to win at the major international meets. He was 3rd at the 1971 World Championships. Hellickson was expected to make the 1972 Olympic team but was upset by Ben Peterson who went on to win a gold medal. Between 1972 and 1976, Hellickson was beaten five times by the Soviet great, Levan Tediashvili, at 198 lbs., so he elected to move up to his more natural weight of 220 lbs. for the Montréal Olympics. However, he could not overcome the defending Olympic champion, Ivan Yarygin of the USSR. Hellickson later became a coach at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, and also became a television commentator for wrestling.