Hall of Fame Spotlight: Bill Hyman

Bill Hyman, a two-time All-American, is arguably the greatest wrestler in Temple Athletics history. The Saddlebrook, N,J. native owns the Temple records for most wins (50) and pins (40) in a season (50) and career wins (129, 1981-85).

In the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) tournaments, Hyman finished fourth at heavyweight as a sophomore and won the tournament his junior and senior seasons, each time edging Syracuse's Andy Schwab by one point in the finals. Temple placed fourth out of 16 teams each year. Hyman received the prestigious Fletcher Award his senior year.

At the NCAA tournament, Hyman, while seeded 11th, placed fourth as a junior in 1984. The following year he was seeded second, but ripped through all his opponents, including a 12-2 victory in the finals over Michigan's Kirk Trost to win the heavyweight title.

Hyman continued to wrestle for clubs for several years, including the Foxcatcher team that competed against an All-Star team from Bulgaria in 1986. He was a member of the USA wrestling team that competed in the 1985 Maccabean Games in Israel, earning a gold medal.

After college, Hyman, who graduated Temple with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1985, was a trader on Wall Street and later changed careers, going into the medical industry as a sales rep. He was inducted into the EIWA Hall of Fame in 2016.

Talk about your decision to attend Temple University?

"My best friend in high school was going to Temple on a football scholarship and I knew Tony Mantella, who was on the team, had finished second in the nationals the previous year was still going to be there and I wanted to work out with him. Also, Jerry Villecco was a great coach. So, it was an easy decision. It was close to home.

I had some other offers, like Syracuse and Iowa State, but at the end of the day I think I made the best decision."

Talk about your time at Temple, as a student as well as a wrestler?

"Back in the '80s Temple was a tough environment, much different than it is now. So, it helped me grow as a person as well as an athlete. It made me stronger mentally as well as physically."

My first two years I got caught up in the social like, being a college student. I did pretty well as a wrestler too, but then it hit me that if I start to focus and work hard,
I could really be something. So, I stopped going out and partying my junior and senior year. I disciplined myself and I started to work out every morning before practice. I worked out twice a day and I never took a day off.

I was the only one that Coach (John) Chaney allowed to work out in the gym during his morning practices as he knew me from wrestling. So, the basketball team was on the court at McGonigle Hall and I was running the steps.

How special was your senior season, winning the NCAA Championship a year after placing fourth?

"It was amazing, but I had one goal coming into the year. To win the Championship. I came in fourth my junior year, made it to the semifinals, so my goal as a senior was to win the title.

I had pinned every opponent in the first three rounds at the 1985 Championship. Then, in my quarterfinal match, I was losing to a wrestler from Youngstown State, Rick Brunot, who later played in the NFL. I was wrestling in the unlimited weight class and was losing 4-1 in the second period. I had not been down the whole year. Something just went off in my head as I knew my brother and father were coming down to watch me (the next day) so I just bear hugged Brunot, who was 50 pounds heavier than me and was able to pin him.

In the semifinals I was beating my opponent from Penn State, 4-1, with like a minute and half to go so I stalled the rest of the match. I had been there the year before, so I knew what I had to do. I ended up winning 4-3, which was my closest match of the tournament. In the championship I beat up the wrestler from Michigan pretty easily (12-2).

It was just a great feeling as I had one goal – to win a National Championship and every day I thought about it. I just knew I was going to do it and it worked out."

Talk about your post Temple wrestling career?

"I wrestled a little after college, did some international stuff but I was a better collegiate style wrestler than freestyle wrestler. I did wrestle all the top guys at the time, Bruce Baumgartner, Mark Schultz as well as the Olympic champs from Russia.I also ran the rec program in my town for 12 years and raised some money for them.

How special was it to be inducted into the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Hall of Fame, the only Temple wrestler to be so honored?

"That was great, but being inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame meant a lot more to me to be honest. Just the legacy of Temple and I have friends that are also in the Temple Hall of Fame, so it is like a fraternity."

Temple University Athletics

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Bill Hyman

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