May 03--The National Wrestling Hall of Fame has stripped all honors from former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert, who was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison last week by a judge who branded him "a serial child molester."
The decision to revoke awards given to Hastert, a former college wrestler and high school wrestling coach, came after a review by the hall of fame's ethics committee, Lee Roy Smith, the executive director of the Stillwater, Okla.-based National Wrestling Hall of Fame, said Monday.
"The decision was unanimous among 24 board members across the United States so they spoke loud and clear about how they felt about it and about the situation," Smith said.
Hastert had received the Order of Merit from the hall of fame and two Outstanding American awards. Also revoked was a 2003 Outstanding American award from the Illinois Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and a 2009 Sport of Lincoln Award from the Dan Gable Museum.
Hastert had acted in a manner that was "detrimental to the ideals and objectives and contrary to the mission statement of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame," according to a news release from the hall.
"(The board) did a diligent job of determining the kinds of parameters under which he was removed and I think doing the right thing for those innocent high school wrestlers who were victimized weighed heavily on all the board members of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and their decision," Smith said. "Hopefully that can bring some measure of healing to those individuals and their families."
Hastert pleaded guilty to illegally structuring bank withdrawals. He paid a former student at Yorkville High School $1.7 million to keep quiet about being sexually abused. Five former students have come forward to accuse Hastert of sexual abuse.
gwong@tribpub.com
