Published: May 31, 2008 09:10 pm         

A man without limitations

• Maestro earns Medal of Courage

Being married to James Maestro for almost 34 years, Cheryl Maestro wasn’t surprised when her husband was informed he would receive the 2008 Medal of Courage, given annually by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

“It’s quite an honor,” said Cheryl, who attended Friday night’s Presentation of Plaques at the NWHOF with James, a three-time gold medalist in the Paralympics. “He was delighted. He went to Augsburg (Minn.) College and they have a great tradition of wrestling and I think he was more surprised that he was the first from that school to go into the (NWHOF).”

James Maestro, who is blind, has a list of accomplishments that rival any American athlete.

While at Augsburg, he won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 1972, also qualifying for the Olympic Trials in both freestyle and Greco-Roman that same year. Maestro earned an alternate spot on the 1976 Olympic Greco-Roman squad.

Eight times from 1976-87, he won gold medals at the United States Association for Blind Athletes National Championships. Maestro won freestyle gold medals in three Paralympics — in Toronto in 1976, in Holland in 1980 and in New York in 1984.

“Surprised? Yes and no,” he admitted on Friday. “I never really thought about it when I was doing it. I was lucky enough to pick a sport that I was able to succeed.

“If Michael Jordan had picked baseball we might have never heard of him.

“This is such a great honor, to go into a hall of fame with so many great athletes.”

In 1986, Maestro discovered judo.

“The U.S. Association for Blind Athletes gave a demonstration at Long Beach (Calif.) in 1986,” he said. “I felt like I’d been doing (judo) forever, so it was natural for me to get involved. You’ve got something to grab onto and it’s a little easier on the body compared to wrestling.”

In 1995, Maestro was a World Judo Champion for the Blind and was honored as the United States Olympic Committee Blind Athlete of the Year. A year later, he was honored as the flag bearer for the Paralympics in Atlanta.

Before he was through, he won 10 Paralympic medals in four different sports — wrestling, judo, track and field and goalball.

Outside the athletic playing field, Maestro was the first individual with a visual impairment to earn a Ph. D. in physical education in the U.S. He is a tenured full professor of physical and professional education at Bemidji State University.



American idol

Mike Houck, the first American to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman, will sing the national anthem before tonight’s banquet.

Houck, who won gold in the 1985 World Championships in Norway, is an opera singer.



Old school

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, inducted into NWHOF in 2000 as an Outstanding American, is expected to be part of tonight’s Honors Banquet.

Speaking of politics ...

The NWHOF is currently in the process of developing a display featuring the 13 United States Presidents who have competed as wrestlers. On Friday night, Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. leader but not a wrestler himself, was in attendance.

Actually, Dr. Gary M. Gray, an historian, writer and actor, was in full revolutionary garb and full of meaningful information. He is renowned for his historically accurate portrayals of some of America’s greatest citizens.

His latest book is “Mr. President’s: Voices of Freedom, Equality and Dignity.”

     

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