Press Release

Nov. 2, 2006

Former Northwest Athlete Paul Stehman to be Inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame

HAZLETON, Pa. -- Former Northwest Missouri State University football and wrestling athlete Paul Stehman will be inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Sat., Nov. 4. Stehman will be one of 12 individuals involved in the 44th induction class into the hall of fame.

Stehman was a four-year member of the Bearcat football team from 1965-68, earning football letters three years as a guard, but had greater success in his four-year wrestling career. In his sophomore season of 1967, Stehman won the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) 137 lb. title, finishing fourth in the NCAA Division II meet. As a junior, he was the conference 145 lb. champion and finished fifth in the NCAA national meet. In 1969, Stehman was the MIAA and NCAA Division II champion in the 137 lb. weight class. Stehman is second in school all-time career falls with 30 and fourth in season falls with 12. He was also a member of the MIAA Championship teams of 1966 and 1967.

After graduation from Northwest, Stehman coached a combined 30 years at high schools throughout Pennsylvania, earning six state wrestling championships with a 300-183-4 career coaching record. Stehman has been inducted in the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania State Wrestling Hall of Fame and earned the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Stehman was also a 1995 inductee into the Northwest Missouri State M-Club Hall of Fame.

Stehman currently serves as athletic director at Shamkoin Area School District in Coal Township, Pa.