David Lesley Schultz (June 6, 1959 - January 26, 1996) was an American Olympic and World champion freestyle wrestler, and a seven-time World and Olympic medalist. He was known for his exceptional skills, sportsmanship, and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life.
Dave Schultz in 1984
Early Life and Education
David Lesley Schultz was born in Palo Alto, California, to Dorothy Jean St. Germain and Phillip Gary Schultz. His father was a counselor, and his mother was a clothes designer. He was the brother of Mark Schultz, and two half-siblings - Michael and Seana. Schultz was of half Hungarian-Jewish Belarusian-Jewish and half British/Irish/French/German descent. His paternal grandparents were Estelle (Bernstein), the daughter of a prominent paper company executive, and Maxwell L. Schultz, a business consultant. His maternal grandparents were Dorothy (Starks), a radiologist who graduated from Stanford Medical School #1 in her class, and Willis Rich, a Stanford ichthyology professor, inventor of the salmon ladder and discoverer of the "home stream theory" that salmon return to the rivers where they were born in order to spawn before they die.
Schultz began wrestling in the 7th grade at Ashland Junior High School in Ashland Oregon. Then he transferred to David Starr Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto and wrestled under coach Robert Hoskins. In 1977 as a senior at Palo Alto High School, he became state champion. That year he also won both his first national and international wrestling titles. As a high school senior he pinned 2-time NCAA champion and NCAA "Outstanding Wrestler" Chuck Yagla and World Cup Champion Joe Tice at the Great Plains Championships. His brother Mark started competing in sports in gymnastics, winning the Northern California All-Around Gymnastics Championships in his age group.
Collegiate Career
In college, Schultz was a three-time NCAA All-American, first at Oklahoma State University and then twice at the University of Oklahoma. He competed for Stan Abel at Univ. of Oklahoma. He transferred to UCLA in 1978 and then transferred to Univ. of Oklahoma when UCLA dropped its program. In 1982, he was the 167-pound weight class NCAA Champion defeating Mike Sheets from Oklahoma State University in the finals by criteria tie-breaker in overtime. He graduated from Univ. of Oklahoma in 1983 with degree in health, physical education and recreation.
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Wrestling Achievements
Dave Schultz achieved remarkable success in his wrestling career, marked by numerous national and international titles. He won ten Senior National titles (eight in Freestyle and two in Greco-Roman) over a 19-year span, at three weight divisions: 149.9 lb, 163 lb and 180.5 lb. In international competition, Schultz won a 1983 World Championship and a 1984 Olympic gold medal, competing with the United States team. Schultz won the gold medal at the 74 kg weight class over Martin Knosp from West Germany. He won four World Cup and two Pan American Games titles, and is the only American ever to twice win the tournament in Tbilisi, Georgia. He captured the Pan American Greco-Roman crown in 1977 and the freestyle gold 10 years later. In all, he was a seven-time World and Olympic medalist.
Schultz also competed at the international team in the Tbilisi Tournament in then-Soviet Georgia. The Tbilisi Tournament is considered by many experts in the wrestling community to be the "toughest tournament in the world." Schultz earned a silver medal and was the highest-placing American at the tournament. He won his first national crown in Greco-Roman at the age of 17 and was the nation's top Freestyle wrestler four times.
Here's a summary of his key achievements:
| Achievement | Year |
|---|---|
| Olympic Gold Medal | 1984 |
| World Champion | 1983 |
| World Silver Medalist | 1985, 1987, 1993 |
| World Bronze Medalist | 1982, 1986 |
| World Cup Champion | 1980, 1985, 1994-95 |
| Pan American Games Champion | 1987 |
| Goodwill Games Champion | 1986 |
| Tbilisi Tournament Champion | 1987, 1991 |
| Senior Nationals Champion | Ten-time |
| NCAA Champion | 1982 |
Coaching Career
At various times, Schultz also served as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he coached Dave Lee and Jim Jordan to NCAA titles. wrestlers, Schultz trained 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, who later became a professional wrestler. In the 1990s, he worked as a coach for John du Pont's "Team Foxcatcher", which trained at a complex built on the du Pont family farm in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Schultz trained at the Foxcatcher center while preparing for another Olympic bid, as well as coaching the wrestling team.
Team Foxcatcher | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix
Personal Qualities and Legacy
For all of his achievements on the mat, Schultz is best known as wrestling's greatest friend and diplomat, across the nation and around the world. He always had time to talk, he always wore a smile. His sportsmanship transcended national boundaries. He learned Russian so that he could communicate with other wrestlers, and he named his son Alexander, after a friendly rival in the USSR. Dave and his brother, wrestler Mark Schultz, both won gold at the same Olympics (1984). Together, Dave and his brother Mark Schultz, along with the Banach brothers, were the first American brothers to each win gold medals in the same Olympics. As a true champion on and off the mats, and the most-loved international ambassador for peace and friendship the wrestling world has ever known.
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Dave and Mark Schultz
By his own admission, Schultz "wasn't the greatest athlete in wrestling," but he was one of the most intelligent wrestlers in the history of the sport. Schultz once told one of his mentors, "I cheated! I learned HOW to wrestle." And thus he was a winner all his life.
Tragic Death and Aftermath
On January 26, 1996, he was shot and killed by John du Pont, the owner of the center. Dave Schultz was 36 at the time of his death. His body was cremated. Schultz's surviving family included his wife Nancy, his son Alexander, his daughter Danielle, his siblings, and both parents. His wife, Nancy, later founded the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club, which supported 20 displaced athletes from Team Foxcatcher, providing them with training and coaching resources through the 1996 Olympics.
At the trial, neither the prosecution nor the defense suggested a motive for the crime. A jury rejected du Pont's plea of not guilty by reason of insanity; he was convicted as guilty but mentally ill. Du Pont was sentenced by Judge Patricia Jenkins to 13-30 years incarceration and died in prison on December 9, 2010. Schultz's father Philip told The New York Times that "the fact that he's officially gone is almost a moot point. I did forgive the man for what he did. After Schultz's murder, 20 former Foxcatcher athletes were left without training or coaching resources six months before the 1996 Olympic Games.
The Club succeeded beyond the initial goal. It continued to train athletes in both men's and women's freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling until it closed in 2005. Among the wrestlers who competed under Dave Schultz WC sponsorship were Olympic gold medalists Kurt Angle (100 kg/220 lbs Men's Freestyle, 1996) and Brandon Slay (76 kg/167.5 lbs Men's Freestyle, 2000), Olympic bronze medalist Patricia Miranda (48 kg/105.5 lbs Women's Freestyle, 2004), and World Champion Stephen Neal (130 kg/286 lbs.
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Legacy and Honors
In 1996, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame established the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, which celebrates an outstanding high school male wrestler from each state, while also signifying regional and a national winner.