Ed Aliverti is considered the voice of Amateur Wrestling. He announced his first wrestling meet in 1958 at Edmonds High School in Edmonds, Washington. It all started when as the choral director at Edmonds H.S. he recruited six wrestlers to sing in his choir. In turn, they asked him to be the public address announcer for the team's first dual meet. Ed spent two weeks in the wrestling room for practice to learn the sport and the rest is history.
Since that time, Ed and his wife Shirley, who shares the sport with him, have announced wrestling meets at every level, including the past five Olympic Games. He has been the announcer at 34 International Wrestling Competitions and the past 28 NCAA I National Championships. Ed has announced several of the NCAA II National Championships in the past fifteen years, as well as NAIA and NCAA III Championships. Perhaps Ed's greatest challenge in announcing is the Washington State High School Championships which he has done since 1964. That tournament has four divisions which are wrestled simultaneously on twenty-four mats.
Ed is considered one of the greatest ambassadors the sport of wrestling has. His pet phrase "TheWorlds Oldest and Greatest Sport" is one in which he truly believes. As an announcer he tries to inform, he tries to educate, entertain occasionally and he will even sing a song or two if needed. He always tries to present the sport and it's participants in a dignified and respective manner.
He has received many honors and awards in his career. He is a distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the NAIA National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Meritorious Award by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the Man of the Year Award for 1992 by the WRESTLING USA MAGAZINE. Ed and his wife Shirley have both been awarded the very prestigious Dr. William A. Tomaras Award for Merit for promotion of wrestling in the State of Washington. In a recent poll conducted by WRESTLING USA MAGAZINE Ed was listed as number four of Top Contributors to Amateur Wrestling of All Time.
Ed Aliverti spent forty years in the field of education. He did his Bachelor's and Graduate Studies at Washington State University. He taught music and directed choirs at the high school level in Edmonds, Washington, for twenty-five years. After earning his counseling credentials at Seattle University he spent fifteen years as Dean of Student Services at Edmonds Community College. As an educator he has received the Excellence in Education Award as conferred by the Edmonds Community College Board of Trustees, has been conferred the title DEAN EMERITUS of Edmonds Community College and has received the Washington State Governor's Community Service Award.
Ed and his wife Shirley have been married for 48 years. They have been volunteers together for the sport of wrestling most of that time. They are the parents of three daughters, all of which were wrestling statisticians for the Edmonds High School Wrestling team. Ed and Shirley also have two grandsons and two granddaughters.
Mark Burrell started his wrestling career at West Des Moines Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Three times he qualified for the Iowa State Meet and placed second as a junior. His high school career record was 54-13-1.
In the fall of 1985, Mark enrolled at Northwest Missouri State University. He didn't go out for the wrestling team until his second year of school. That year, while wrestling at 126 pounds he compiled a 25-5 record. He qualified for the NCAA II Nationals by winning the Midwest Regional, but he did not earn All-American honors. The following year Mark had high expectations, but NMSU dropped their wrestling program and he was without a team. In the fall of 1988, his fourth year of college he transferred to Central Missouri State University to continue his wrestling career. During the next two years he developed into one of the most dominant collegiate wrestlers in the country. During the 1988-89 season while wrestling at 126 pounds, Mark put together a record of 44-6-2 while winning the NCAA II National Championship. His 44 wins is still the most ever for a CMSU wrestler in a single season. The following season, Mark had an even more dominating season with a 40-3-1 record and he became the first Central Missouri wrestler to win two NCAA II National Championships.
Despite only wrestling two years at Central Missouri State University, Mark holds many of their school records. His career record of 84-9-3 is the highest win percentage (.890), and he also has the most wins (44), the most takedowns (169), team points (167) and technical falls (10) in a single season. In 1990 Mark won three matches in the NCAA I Nationals and was an overtime match away from earning NCAA I All-American honors. Following his graduation from CMSU he continued his wrestling career by training with the New York Athletic Club as part of the team USA Wrestling Olympic development program. He also spent a year at California University of Pennsylvania doing graduate work and serving as the assistant wrestling coach under current Mules coach Robin Ersland.
After graduate school, Mark has been the founder and owner of two companies. His second company Progressive Designs, is a multi-million dollar graphics business that specializes in advertisement development, design and corporate identity. It was recently featured in a national publication call SAM"S Club Source. Mark and his wife Tracie have two children Briana and Bailey. They live in his hometown of West Des Moines, Iowa. Mark was the first Central Missouri State University wrestler to be inducted into the schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
Mike Hahesy started his wrestling career at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He won an Iowa State Championship as a senior in 1981. He followed his high school teammates Barry Davis, Jim Zalesky and Lenny Zalesky to the University of Iowa to wrestle for legendary Coach Dan Gable. After spending three years at Iowa and seeing only part time duty with a 20-10 record behind National Champions Marty Kistler and Jim Heffernan, Mike decided to transfer to Edinboro University of PA and wrestle for the Scots and Coach Mike DeAnna, a former assistant coach at the University of Iowa.
During the two seasons that Mike wrestled at Edinboro University he helped lead that team from a last place NCAA II National Tournament finish in 1984, to a fifth place finish in 1985, and a second place finish in 1986. In his first season at Edinboro University he won the East Regional Championship and then won the university's first ever NCAA II National Wrestling Championship by capturing the 158 pound title. His season record was 48-9. That same year he was also crowned the AAU National Freestyle Champion at 163 pounds. In Mike's senior season of 1985-86 he again won the East Regional Championship and placed second in the NCAA II National Tournament. His season record was 36-8. He competed twice in the NCAA I Nationals winning a total of four matches, but did not attain All-American status. His total collegiate wrestling record was 104-27. Mike was selected as Edinboro University's Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1986.
Mike graduated from Edinboro Univeristy in 1987 with a degree in Health and Physical Education and spent the next five years teaching and coaching wrestling at Warren High School in Pennsylvania. His teams were a respectable 51-20 in dual meets. He then took over the program at McDowell High School in Erie, PA where he enjoyed a stellar 37-5 record over a three year span. Since receiving his MS degree in School Administration from St. Bonaventure University, Mike has served as the Assistant Principle at Fairview High School in Erie, PA. He also is in his third season as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Gannon University. During the 2000-2001 season Gannon University enjoyed their highest national finish ever by placing seventh in the NCAA II Nationals.
Mike and his wife Kathryn live in Erie, Pennsylvannia with their three daughters Madison, Haley and Hunter. He was inducted into the Edinboro University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.
Ted's wrestling career started in East Troy, Wisconsin. He was the youngest of seven brothers that all wrestled and won a combined total of over 600 high school wrestling matches. Ted's high school record was 109-14. As a senior he was a perfect 32-0 and won a Wisconsin State Championship at 160 pounds.
Following his graduation from high school, Ted enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to participate in wrestling under the guidance of Coach Jim Koch. From 1986-1990 he was a fixture at the 167 pound weight class for the Rangers. As a freshman he qualified for the NCAA II Nationals but didn't earn All-American honors as he finished the season with a 26-12 record. As a sophomore, he placed sixth in the NCAA II Nationals while compiling a 42-10 season record. Ted set a UW-Parkside school high for wins with a 48-6 record as a junior in 1989 while winning the NCAA II National Championship. He also set a new single season record with 185 takedowns. In 1990 Ted earned his third All-American award by placing second in the NCAA II Nationals and finished the season with a 27-5-1 record. His overall collegiate record was 143-33-1. His win total was a new school record for UW-Parkside as was his career total of 516 takedowns.
Ted was four times named an Academic All-American in wrestling. He was also selected as UW-Parkside's first ever NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award Winner.
Following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with a degree in psychology, Ted has taught and coached at Muskego High School in Muskego, Wisconsin. He and his wife Debbie have three sons Nicholas, Connor and Addison. Ted was inducted into the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.