Jason Bingaman joins LSSU Athletic Hall of Fame

Champion wrestler Jason Bingaman will be inducted next weekend into the LSSU Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the 2005 Great Lake State Weekend celebration.

The induction luncheon is planned for Saturday, October 22 starting at 11 a.m. in LSSU's Walker Cisler Center.

The following description of Bingamin's achievements is from an LSSU news release:

********************** Four-time All-America wrestler Bingaman was often described as a gentle giant on the LSSU campus, but he wasn't big by heavyweight wrestling standards.

At 5-feet, 11-inches and 245-255 pounds, the Mendon, Michigan, native captured NCAA II national titles in 1992 and 1993, and was the NCAA II heavyweight runner-up in 1994.

Bingaman was named the 1994 regional wrestler of the year.

Jason Bingaman in action In 1991, his freshman year, he placed sixth in the NCAA Tournament and was tabbed as the top collegiate freshman heavyweight by Amateur Wrestling News.

He posted an impressive career record of 129-33-3 and totaled a school-record 51 career pins.

Bingaman, whose opponents were often several inches taller and weighing as much as 280 pounds, made the most of what former coach Tom Borrelli called his "low center of gravity."

"When I got up on the award stand, it didn't hit me until I looked down and saw all the guys who were 6-1 and 6-2," Bingaman said after he beat North Dakota State's Tim Tekautz 4-1 to win his first title as a sophomore.

He pinned Tekautz in the national semifinals the following year, and beat Lee Pulse of Augustana College 3-2 to earn his second national title.

Bingaman won the 1993 title despite not winning a tournament during the regular season.

"That was the most pressure I think I've ever been under," Bingaman told the Sault Evening News after his victory.

Bingaman was the last champion wrestler at LSSU.

The program was discontinued due to a changing competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference environment and shrinking athletic funds.

The Laker grappler was also successful in international Greco Roman-style wrestling, winning silver medals in the 1991 Espoir World Championships, and the 1993 University nationals and Olympic Sports Festival.

Other 2005 Hall of Fame inductees

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