The Wrestlers

THE first thing you see upon entering the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is the life-size marble statue, The Wrestlers. Weighing more than 1,300 pounds, it's hard to miss.

The Wrestlers, an exact copy of the classic statue by Cephisodotus, which stands in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, was a gift to the Hall of Fame from Calvin Garrett as a memorial to his son Robert, an Oklahoma State University senior who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

In 1972, Myron Roderick, Hall of Fame president and CEO, found the statue in Florence, while in Europe for the Munich Olympic Games and found it to be perfect for for what would become the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

It was obtained from Raffaello Romanelli of Florence, a dealer in antique sculpture.