STILLWATER, Okla. – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced this week that former Renegade State Champion wrestler Bruce Burnett will be inducted as a Distinguished Member at the 44th Annual Honors Weekend on June 5-6, 2020 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Burnett wrestled at Bakersfield College from 1969 to 1970 and was a two-time state champion at the 137/142 lb. weight class. In 1969 he played a key role in the Renegade wrestling team winning the state junior college championship under head coach Bruce Pfutzenreuter. He finished his Renegade career with a 55-3 career record and was named the state's outstanding wrestler in 1970.
He would go on to compete for Idaho State University where he was undefeated in dual meets and a two-time Big Sky Conference and Mountain Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion from 1971-72.
Prior to BC, Burnett was a two-time league champion and three-time state place-winner for North Bakersfield High School.
After wrapping up his career on the mat, Burnett began his coaching career at Meridian High School in Meridian, Idaho, where he led his teams to a 154-13-2 dual meet record with four state team titles, four state runner-up finishes, six district titles and nine conference titles from 1974-87. He won the Idaho Coaches Association Coach of the Year award seven times, and served as state chairperson and junior chairperson for Idaho USA Wrestling.
He would then go on to a successful career at the college and international level as well. He was USA Wrestling's national freestyle coach from 2014-2016 and from 1993-2000, considered the most successful Olympic cycles in U.S. history. During his tenure, five Americans won Olympic gold medals - Kendall Cross (1996), Tom Brands (1996), Kurt Angle (1996), Brandon Slay (2000) and Kyle Snyder (2016) – and 11 U.S. athletes won 13 World Championships - Bruce Baumgartner (1993 and 1995), Terry Brands (1993 and 1995), Tom Brands (1993), Melvin Douglas (1993), Kurt Angle (1995), Kevin Jackson (1995), Les Gutches (1997), Sammie Henson (1998), Stephen Neal (1999), Jordan Burroughs (2015) and Kyle Snyder (2015). From 1993-2000, U.S. wrestlers won 22 World medals (11 gold, four silver and seven bronze) and placed in the Top 10 at the World Championships as a team every year. United States won its first-ever Senior World Freestyle team title in 1993 and again in 1995. U.S. won the medal count at the 1996 Olympic Games with three gold (Kurt Angle, Tom Brands and Kendall Cross), a silver (Townsend Saunders) and a bronze (Bruce Baumgartner). Burnett coached J'den Cox to a bronze medal and Kyle Snyder to a gold medal at 2016 Olympic Games after coaching Jordan Burroughs and Snyder to World titles in 2015. He led the United States to seven World Cup team titles and five Pan American Championships, including 2011 when the U.S. had six medalists, including champions Jordan Burroughs, Jake Herbert, Jake Varner and Tervel Diagnev. From the national teams that he coached, Kurt Angle, Bruce Baumgartner, Terry Brands, Tom Brands, Kendall Cross, Melvin Douglas, Les Gutches, Sammie Henson, Kevin Jackson, Zeke Jones, Kenny Monday, Stephen Neal, Townsend Saunders and Dave Schultz are all Distinguished Members of the Hall of Fame. Burnett was the wrestling coach at the United States Naval Academy from 2000-13, leading his teams to a 113-57 overall dual meet record and six consecutive 10-win seasons from 2002-07. Team finished in Top Five at the EIWA Championships seven times and placed in the Top 25 at the NCAA Championships three times. Burnett coached 10 EIWA champions, 50 NCAA qualifiers and 10 wrestlers who earned All-American honors. He was an assistant coach for Joe Seay at Oklahoma State from 1987-90, helping lead the Cowboys to two NCAA team titles, two National Wrestling Coaches Association National Dual titles and three Big Eight Conference titles. OSU had 26 All-Americans and five national champions, including Distinguished Members John Smith, Cross and Pat Smith.
He was inducted into the Idaho State Sports Hall of Fame in 1986, the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and the North High School Hall of Fame in 2013. Burnett received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Idaho Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named the Myron Roderick Man of the Year by USA Wrestling in 2016.
Other members of the 2020 National Wrestling Hall of Fame class include Distinguished Members Dremiel Byers, Mark Lieberman and Bill Zadick, Meritorious Official Tim Shiels, Order of Merit recipient Gary Abbott, Medal of Courage recipient Gary Chopp and Outstanding American Carl Eschenbach. To read the official release from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame click here: https://nwhof.org/bloghall-of-fame-announces-class-of-2020
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