Wrestling honor nominees named

Two founders of Philadelphia's gay wrestling club, a three time Gay Games gold medalist and five Californians are among the nominees this year for induction into the Don Jung WWB Hall of Merit. The inductees will be announced May 24 at the WWB Cup tournament in San Francisco.

Wrestlers WithOut Borders said his year's nominees represent the theme of "Endurance and Excellence," providing athletic inspiration, achievement and leadership over a span of many years. The hall was created last year to recognize long-term and exemplary contributions toward making LGBT wrestling successful and inclusive. The nominees are:

Michael LoFurno and Dennis Spillman, instrumental in the founding of the Philadelphia Spartans

Mike Ognibene, a three-time Gay Games gold medalist for New York's Metro Gay Wrestling Alliance

John Thayer of Los Angeles, who wrestled for Southern California Wrestling Club in the first six Gay Games

Rochelle Robinson and Erika Hom, two of the dominant women stars from San Francisco's Golden Gate Wrestling Club

Golden Gate's Eric Richter, who won two Games medals and built an award winning web site for the Federation of Gay Games

Nancy Dito, former director of City of San Francisco's Eureka Valley recreation Center who played an instrumental and supportive role in establishing Golden Gate in the center

Philippe Bruno, a founding member of Paris-Lutte Wrestling Club in the late 1990s.

John English, founder of Sydney's Harbour City Wrestling Club

Robinson and Richter were both nominated in 2008.

The Don Jung WWB Hall of Merit is named in honor of Don Jung, organizer of the first Gay Games wrestling tournament in 1982, and has 18 members.

Notes on this year's nominees: Philippe Bruno has been with Paris-Lutte all 11 years of its existence... middleweight John English, originally from Wales before moving to Sydney was one of only three wrestlers to represent Australia in the Gay Games before HCWC hosted the event in 2002... Rochelle Robinson was one of the biggest female stars to emerge in the WWB, winning a national exhibition crown in freestyle as a warm-up to gold in Amsterdam in 1998... Erika Hom, who wrestled briefly for the now defunct Phoenix Spartans, won gold medals in the 2002 and 2006 Gay Games for GGWC... Michael LoFurno, who is a past president and treasurer of the Philadelphia Spartans, wrestled in four Gay Games, finally winning a silver medal in 2006 in Chicago. Dennis Spillman, who won gold for Philadelphia that same year, also founded the Phoenix Spartans... John Thayer struck silver for SCWC in the inaugural Games, then bronze in the next two Gay Games... Nancy Dito retired from the City of San Francisco Park and Recreation Department in 2003. During her time, LGBT sports clubs became fixtures at the recreation center...

Mike Ognibene, who established a legacy of solid lightweights for Metro, was a bigger star in the mainstream folkstyle coaching world, coaching his high school team to seven New York City Public School Athletic League titles... Erich Richter was a novice wrestler in 1994, but won gold in Amsterdam in 1998 and then bronze in 2002 in Sydney. The web site he built for the FGG won a CyberSockets award and was critical in the recruitment success of the Games. He also built web sites for WWB and GGWC...

The Hall of Merit is located on the WWB web site. Current members are:
Allen Abraham, Johnny Almony, Roger Brigham, Russ Connelly, Gene Dermody, Jek Fong, Don Jung, Ed Lindsay, Kathy McAdams, Kevin Martin, Les Morgan, Abram "Alex" Ostrovskiy, Peter Runyon, Bob Sayers, Steve Swanson, Rick Van Tassell, Ron Ward, and Barry Webb.

This year's 24th annual Don Jung Memorial Tournament serves as WWB's second official cup tournament, held in non-Gay Games years. The tournament was relocated for 2008 to Chicago, host for the last Gay Games in 2006 to commemorate the historical tie between WWB and the Gay Games.