WVU Sports Hall of Fame

Inducted: 2004

Written by Shelly Poe

Dominic Black enjoyed a banner collegiate wrestling career at WVU. Black finished as one of only six wrestlers in school history to amass more than 100 career victories, posting a 105-36-2 mark. He capped his stellar career with impressive seasons in 1990 and 1991. As a junior, he went 33-5 to establish a record for wins in a season by a WVU 177-pounder, won an EWL title and competed in his second consecutive NCAA tournament. As a senior, Black posted a 39-win season (third best in school history), a second EWL crown and earned All-America honors (fourth-place finish) at the NCAA Championships.

Following collegiate competition, Black took first place in earning University Freestyle National Champion honors in 1992. Then in 1995, Black became the first West Virginia wrestler to ever represent the United States in an international event, as he won a gold medal in the 198-pound weight class at the World Cup of Freestyle. He entered the U.S. Army in November, 1997, and is currently a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program that allows him to wrestle and recruit for the Army.

Competing for his country, Black won the national title to earn a spot on the 1999 U.S. world championships team, and was a gold medalist at the 1999 Pan-American Games. In the 2000 Pan-American games, Black won a silver medal and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials with a second place finish. Black held a No. 1 world ranking in 2002 and won a gold medal at the Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open in October, 2003. He also a won the 2003 Military World Championships.

Black is currently a member of the U.S. national freestyle team, one of several athletes competing to wrestle at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He currently has a No. 5 national ranking in freestyle at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. He holds two degrees from West Virginia, an undergraduate degree in sport management and a master’s degree in safety management. A native of Lexington, Ky., he resides in Colorado Springs for Olympic training.