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2025 Tournament Hall of Fame Honorees

January 12, 2025

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The Hall of Fame award presentation took place before the Finals matches Saturday, June 11.  Receiving their Bison statuettes were: Bob Zweiacher, (2nd from right), Paul Ameen, (right) and the three sons of Jess Kirk who accepted the award in their father's honor.  Here are their biographies:

BOB ZWEIACHER

Bob Zweiacher has a unique place in the history of Oklahoma wrestling.
A Geary native, Bob started wrestling in seventh grade. By his sophomore year,
he placed 4th at regionals. An injury in football ended his wrestling season junior
year, but he came back senior year better than ever - placing first at regionals
and finishing second at state.
He continued his wrestling and athletic career at Oklahoma State where he
placed second at the NCAA Division 1 wrestling tournament at 167 pounds for
the Cowboys. He was a Big Eight champion and a four-time letterman for the
Cowboys.
Following his collegiate career, he returned home to Geary to start his coaching
career in 1964 to coach the Bison where he coached:
● 5 HS state champions, including 2 Outstanding Wrestlers
● Class A Oklahoma Coach of the Year
In 1968, he started the wrestling program at Northern Oklahoma College and
was the first and only wrestling coach in the school's history.
NOC's very first year, the team compiled a 10-1 record and finished eighth out
of 64 teams in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.
Between 1968 and 1983 when the program was dropped, his teams finished in
the Top 10 of the NJCAA seven times, including four Top-Five finishes and
compiled an overall record of 118-37-2. Five of his wrestlers won individual
national titles, including Karl Lynes, a two-time junior college national champion
who went on to become an All-American for Zweiacher's alma mater, Oklahoma
State AND Tommy Carter, a wrestler from Geary who became Bob’s first ever
national champion!
In 2013, he was honored with the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the
Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his contributions to
the sport.
We’re proud to call him our own and a new member of the Geary Invitational
Wrestling Tournament’s Bob Stegall Hall of Fame!
JESS KIRK

Jess Kirk was a champion in the very first Geary Tournament in 1944. A 1944
graduate of Perry High School, Kirk won the 154lb. Geary Tournament title with a
5-2 win in the finals over Geary’s Denver Cearley. In 1945, Kirk, competing for

the Oklahoma City YMCA, earned a national runner-up finish at 191lbs. to help
lead the team to the AAU national championship.
Following that tournament, Kirk enlisted in the Army and served his country until
1946. After his discharge from the Army, Kirk enrolled at Central State College
(now UCO) and was a starter and letterman on the 1947 team. This was the last
year Central State offered wrestling until 1973.
In 1974 and 1975, Mark Kirk, son of Jess and wrestler for Perry, was a 2X
placer, with two 4th place finishes at the Geary Tournament.
Adam Kirk, grandson of Jess and wrestler for Edmond Memorial, placed 4 th in
2002 and was a runner-up in 2003, giving the Kirk family the distinction of being
the first family to have three generations place at the historic Geary
Tournament.
Accepting tonight for Jess are his son’s Mark, Lloyd, and Floyd.
Please help us welcome one of the very first Geary Invitational Wrestling
Tournament champions to the Bob Stegall Hall of Fame!
PAUL AMEEN

Paul was all-state as both a wrestler and a football player. Earned all-state
football honors as a running-back at Midwest City and was named Prep Player of
the Year in 1976. He earned a football scholarship to Louisiana State University
where he graduated in 1981.
As a wrestler at Midwest City, was a three -time state champion. He started his
career with a loss and a tie before reeling off 82 consecutive victories to finish
with a career record of 82-1-1. He was a three-time Geary champion and
remembers all three years being hosted by the Bode family.
He represented Oklahoma in the Mexican/American games where he took first in
1974. Ameen competed in Japan where he won all nine of his matches. Paul was
also awarded the “Jim Thorpe Award” for Most Outstanding All Around Athlete in
Oklahoma his senior year.
Paul became a wrestling official in 1984 and has officiated the last 39 years,
including 21 dual state championships, 37 regional tournaments and 37 State
Tournaments.

Paul has been President of the Northeastern Oklahoma Wrestling Officials
Association for the past 33 years. Paul was inducted into the Oklahoma Chapter
of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, and currently serves on the
Oklahoma Chapter Board for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Now, in 2025, Paul Ameen is a Bob Stegall Hall of Fame inductee