Randy Lewis started wrestling in 1970 at ten years old. He wrestled for twenty-three years during an era when winning by pin was revered. In his last three seasons at Rapid City Stevens High School in South Dakota, he was 89-0 with 83 pins. He won three state championships, was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler (O.W.) twice, and set a national high school record at the time of 45 consecutive pins. As a true freshman at Iowa, Lewis was an NCAA D-I runner-up champion finishing 30-6 at 126 pounds. He won championships the following two years and became a four time NCAA D-I All American. He was 127-11-1 in college with 64 pins. Five of those losses occurred in his final collegiate season after suffering a severely dislocated elbow. Lewboo (as he was nicknamed by team mates) was an Iowa Hawkeye starter and team captain on coach Dan Gable's first four championship teams. Adjusting seamlessly from folkstyle to freestyle wrestling forms, Lewis became the youngest member on the boycotted 1980 Olympic team. He subsequently made the 1984 Olympic team and won a gold medal, earning tech falls over all five opponents. His 24-11 final is still the highest scoring championship match in history. During his stellar career, Randy wrestled 26 different men who placed in the top three in the world or Olympic competition and scored victories over 23 of them. He also beat 21 NCAA champions. He was a pure wrestler; always working for the pin. Known for wrestling with style and flair, he admitted, "Every tournament I ever entered, I wanted to pin my way through and win the O.W. award." He loved a crowd and they loved him. " You're going out to see 'who the man is,' not to see who can win by the rules and stall your way to a win." Lewis was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of fame in 1998. Lewboo wrestled his last tournament at age fifty. He received a standing ovation even after a loss in the championship round to a collegiate All American. Randy and fans of all stripes enjoyed every second of his remarkable career on the mat.
