Dusty Hone Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award Winner

Dusty Hone of Cedar City High School was named the Utah recipient of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award.

Hone was a four-time Utah state champion, finishing his senior year with a record of 55-0. He finished first at the NHSCA Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach, and second at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle National Championships in Cedar Falls, IA.

Originally created in honor of Schultz, an Olympic and World champion, the High School Excellence Award is based on excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, citizenship and community service. State winners have been selected in each of the states that sponsor high school state championships.

The national winners will be presented at Honors Weekend in Stillwater on June 20-21.

"The performance of these student-athletes reflects our sport's future, a future of highly talented and resilient [athletes] who are driven to excel on and off the mat," Smith said.

"Americans can take pride in knowing that these award recipients demonstrate a level of ambition and character qualities that make for great leaders, the same level of ambition and character qualities that fueled ... Dave Schultz."

Since the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award's inception, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame has recognized 824 wrestlers.

"These student-athletes are role models who influence young people in a very meaningful way," Smith said. "Statistics show that ... students are more likely to stay in school, graduate and become more productive citizens when they participate in extra-curricular activities and after school programs like wrestling."

The five male regional winners for 2014 are:

• Central Region: Bo Nickal is a three-time Texas High School State Champion, who compiled a 183-7 record at Allen High School with 131 of those victories coming by fall.
• Midwest Region: Micah Jordan is a four-time Ohio High School State Champion as well as the Outstanding Wrestler for the 2014 state tournament. During his time at St. Paris Graham High School, Jordan strung together a 187-9 record with 134 career pins.
• Northeast Region: Chance Marsteller is a four-time Pennsylvania High School State Champion, earning the Outstanding Wrestler Award three times at the event. While at Kennard-Dale High School, he put together an unblemished 166-0 record.
• Southeast Region: Brandon Womack is a six-time Alabama High School State Champion, capturing the Most Outstanding Wrestler honor five times. While at Scottsboro High School, Womack compiled a 422-8 record, including a perfect 77-0 record his senior year, with 68 matches resulting in falls.
• West Region: Nick Nevills is a three-time California High School State Champion with a career record of 200-5 at Clovis High School in Clovis, Calif. Upon ending his high school career, Nevills set the all-time career pin record for the state of California with 146 falls.