Ottawa – Wrestling Canada Lutte announced today the class of 2015 to be inducted into the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame. For 2015, Nicholas Ugoalah will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the athlete category and Clive Llewellyn will be inducted as a builder. The inductions will take place March 21, 2015 at the 2015 ASICS Junior / Senior Canadian Wrestling Championships at Brock University in St. Catharines, ON.

“There is no doubt that these two inductees are taking their rightful place along-side the greats already present within our illustrious Hall of Fame,” says Wrestling Canada Lutte Executive Director Tamara Medwidsky. “Our association’s thanks go to the Awards and Hall of Fame Committee for their dedication to the nomination process.”

A 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, two-time medallist at the Senior Pan American Championships and five-time Canadian champion Nicholas Ugoalah represented Canada in over 37 countries in the span of nine years. A former Athlete of the Year and member of the Brock University Athletic Hall of Fame, Ugoalah was also honoured in May 2011, as one of Canada’s Most Inspirational People during a fundraising campaign called Ignite the Spark. Since retiring in 2005, Ugoalah has gone on to own his own business and specialize in personal fitness training, lifestyle coaching and sport enhancement coaching.

Ugoalah is looking forward to the induction at Brock University as it is where he completed his undergraduate degree.

“This honor is affirmation that if you want something, commit to it, the people, the resources and the circumstances will show up to help make it a reality,” says Ugoalah. “I feel extremely grateful to the coaches, teammates and supporters who donated services, time, and money. I am grateful for training partners at every level, friends who gave love and encouragement, and family members who forgave my selfish nature during my career and who understood the focus I required to be successful in the sport.”

As a builder inductee, Clive Llewellyn started as a successful wrestler in his own right, participating in two Olympic Games (1976 and the boycotted 1980 Games), winning a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 1975 and competing at the World Championships in 1975. A wrestler in high school, at the University of Western Ontario, at Lakehead University and on the Canadian National Wrestling Team, Llewellyn went on to build opportunities for future wrestlers. In the late 70s Clive founded the Metro Toronto Wrestling Club, coached the University of Toronto Wrestling Team, and was a National Team member. In 1979 Llewellyn entered Law School at Western Ontario while a National Team member and became an Olympic Team member. In 1982, after completing his Law Degree, Llewellyn relocated to Calgary where he founded the Calgary Wrestling Club in 1984. A former member of the Ontario Amateur Wrestling Executive, 1983 through 1987 Clive was an Executive for Alberta Amateur Wrestling and President in 1991. In 2005 Clive was elected to the Wrestling Canada Lutte Executive, became President of Wrestling Canada Lutte in 2007 and was named to United World Wrestling Legal Committee in 2007.

As a builder, Llewellyn takes pride in the company he now keeps.

“I am very honoured to be included in the Hall of Fame with my own mentors Lew Martin, Glynn Leyshon, Frank Corning, and Josip Mrkoci, who have been very inspirational and be included with the many others who have contributed so much to wrestling in Canada,” says Llewellyn.

The Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to recognize outstanding achievement and contribution to Olympic wrestling in or for Canada. There are two categories of membership in the Hall of Fame, the athlete category and the builder category. The athlete category recognizes the achievements of those wrestlers who have represented Canada at major international competitions or Games. The builder category formally recognizes the contribution, leadership and abilities of those individuals who participate in the development of wrestling. A complete list of inductees since 1975 can be found at: http://wrestling.ca/programs/hall-of-fame.