1 minute read
Wrestling Monument Park
Advertisement
In 2021, Perry had its 100th wrestling season. With 43 state championships, 20 dual state championships, and 4 academic state titles, Perry can boast a total of 67 state championships. Perry’s wrestlers include 176 individual state champions, including famed professional wrestler, boxer, and silver-medal Olympian Danny Hodge and All-Americans Leonard Shelton, Rex Edgar, and Gordon Roesler.
The National Federation of High School Sports lists Perry as having won more state wrestling titles than any other team in the entire nation. In May of 2016, the Perry Wrestling Foundation erected the Perry Wrestling Monument Park to honor and celebrate the heritage and history of the wrestling program and its athletes.
The park sits on the square in downtown Perry at 615 Delaware.
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
Wrestling Monument Park
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
The entrance is marked by an arch inscribed with “Perry Wrestling Monument Park.” As visitors enter the park, they are greeted by two giant bronze sculptures of wrestling greats Danny Hodge and Jack Van Bebber created by local sculptor Jim Franklin. Behind the sculptures are a series of large granite slabs which list the names of Perry’s champions over the years. As Perry’s success continues, new names are continually added.
