Curby Named to National Wrestling Hall of Fame Induction Class
10/29/2018 3:19:00 PM | Wrestling
STILLWATER, Okla. -- University of Michigan alumnus Dr. David Curby (1972-75) has been named to the 2019 induction class of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the hall announced Monday (Oct. 29). Curby will be inducted as the Order of Merit recipient, presented to an individual that has made a significant contribution to the sport of wrestling not as an athlete or a coach.
Curby is the fifth National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee with Michigan ties, joining Distinguished Members Cliff Keen (1976), Harold Nichols (1978), Steve Fraser (1994) and Mark Churella (1999).
Curby helped found and serves as the director of the International Network of Wrestling Researchers, which has more than 500 members in 75 countries, and serves as the editor of the International Journal of Wrestling Science, the organization's official publication. His website, INWR-Wrestling.com, is the world's foremost website on the scientific aspects of wrestling. The INWR has organized and conducted scientific symposiums at the World Championships since 2010. Curby, who has compiled a library of more than 2,800 published scientific articles on wrestling, helped found and serves as secretary for United World Wrestling's Scientific Commission. He served as executive director of Beat the Streets Chicago and coaches a youth wrestling club at St. Sabina Parish in Chicago.
On the mat, Curby was a Junior National Champion and a Junior World team member. He was a four-year starter, team captain and a Big Ten champion at Michigan. A Fulbright Scholar, Curby received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Michigan and his master's degree and doctorate from Northern Illinois in physical education and educational psychology.
He was athletics director and administrator of physical welfare at Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois, from 1994-2008, after working as a teacher and department chair of physical education and health at Lyons Township High School. Curby was named "Physical Educator of the Year" in 1984 by the Illinois State Board of Education. Curby received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Illinois Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 and received the Alan Rice Leadership Award from the Alan and Gloria Rice Greco-Roman Hall of Champions in 2014. He received the United States Olympic Committee's "Doc" Counsilman Award for scientific contributions to coaching in 2011 and is a member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame. Following the death of his son, Jacob, in 2010, Curby and his family founded the Jacob Curby Foundation, in memory of their son who was a member of the United States National Greco-Roman team, and conducted the Jacob Curby Cup, which was one of America's premier Greco-Roman competitions.
Additional Class of 2019 inductees include Distinguished Members Carl Adams, Rich Lorenzo, Brandon Paulson and Townsend Saunders; Meritorious Official David Errett; and Medal of Courage recipient James McCloughan. McCloughan, a Michigan native and Medal of Honor recipient, served as the Wolverines' honorary captain at their Clash at Crisler dual against Ohio State last season.
The Hall of Fame Board of Governors approved the selections at its meeting in Kansas City on Oct. 24. The induction ceremony will be held at the 43rd Annual Honors Weekend on May 31-June 1, 2019, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
