Mark Palmer, College Wrestling Examiner and writer for a number of amateur wrestling websites and publications, was named this week as recipient of the Dellinger Award as wrestling writer of the year for 2011.
The award, presented by Amateur Wrestling News magazine, is named in honor of Bob Dellinger, a long-time sportswriter for the Daily Oklahoman and co-author (with his wife Doris) of Cowboys Ride Again!, a book about the history of the Oklahoma State wrestling program. Dellinger also was instrumental in the formation of USA Wrestling and the establishment of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Dellinger passed away in 1999 at age 70.
Palmer, a 1980 graduate of the journalism school at Ohio University, has written about amateur wrestling for more than a decade. Among the first websites he wrote for was AmateurWrestlingPhotos.com, providing recaps of NCAA Division I championships as well as some profiles of athletes in the sport. In 2005, Palmer started writing for InterMat -- then called RevWrestling.com -- continuing to author a mix of wrestler profiles and reports on major events, as well as providing book and film analyses, and historical features under the InterMat Rewind banner.
In April 2009, Palmer was named College Wrestling Examiner for the national online news website Examiner.com,
In addition to writing for various websites, Palmer writes for a number of publications. The Cincinnati-based writer -- along with 2008 Dellinger Award winner Kristie Stubbs, and respected wrestling historian Ed Ewoldt -- contributes to a series titled "Where Are They Now" for Wrestling USA magazine, providing a look back at the NCAA championships for a specific year, and sharing the story of a particular individual who left his/her mark on the sport at that time. Palmer has also written articles for Amateur Wrestling News and The Guillotine.
Palmer has also served as a contributing writer to Matt Krumrie's book The Ultimate Guide To Wrestling Camps, and to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's 2011 book Family Ties. Additional book projects are in development.
The Dellinger Award was first presented in 1960. Among the recipients honored in the past decade: Jason Bryant and Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling, Jay Hammond (author, The History of Collegiate Wrestling), and Andy Hamilton (Iowa City Press-Citizen, Des Moines Register).
Want to know more? The article announcing the award is in the October 15, 2011 issue of Amateur Wrestling News. A version of the article by Kristie Stubbs is available online at InterMat. For a list of Dellinger Award winners up through 2009, click here.
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