Damion Hahn (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Damion Hahn, two-time NCAA and three-time Big Ten wrestling champ, is one of nine University of Minnesota athletes to be named to the 2018 Hall of Fame class for the school's M Club, one of the nation's largest and oldest varsity letterwinner clubs.
Hahn wrestled at Minnesota for head coach J Robinson from 2001-2004. The Lakewood, N.J. native tallied three Big Ten individual conference titles, back-to-back NCAA championships at 197 pounds in 2003 and 2004, and was a four-time NCAA All-American.
"Hahn's individual success helped fuel team success as well, a run that included three Big Ten team titles and back-to-back NCAA team championships," according to his biography in the official Minnesota M Club Class of 2018 announcement.
Hahn capped off his career with the Gophers with a 118-21 overall record, and the 2004 Jesse Owens Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year honors.
Since graduating from Minnesota, Hahn has built a successful collegiate coaching career, first at Cornell University in New York serving as an assistant coach, then assistant head coach for a total of a dozen years. Then, just this spring, Hahn was named as head coach at the NCAA Division I program at South Dakota State University.
Although the only Golden Gopher wrestler to be named to the M Club this year, Damion Hahn will join 17 other past Minnesota wrestling greats from various eras, including modern-era superstars such as Luke Becker, Chad Kraft, Marty Morgan and teammate Tim Hartung, as well as legends from decades ago, such as Verne Gagne, Leonard "Butch" Levy, and Alan Rice.
In addition to Damion Hahn, other University of Minnesota athletes who are members of the Class of 2018 M Club Hall of Fame include Heather (Dorniden) Kampf (Women's Track and Field); Laurence Maroney (Football); Janel McCarville (Women's Basketball); James McLean (Men's Golf); Pam (Miller) Dombeck (Volleyball); Chris Paulos (Softball, Field Hockey); Jim Peterson (Men's Gymnastics) and Justin Smith (Men's Golf).
These Gopher greats will be officially added to the more than 350 current members of the Hall of Fame during the M Club Hall of Fame banquet on September 13 in the DQ Club Room at TCF Bank Stadium.
"It takes a special athlete to make a college team and earn a letter," said M Club Interim Director Quincy Lewis. "To reach that level, where everyone is exceptional in some way, and then to become a stand out, to break records and earn awards and win championships, that level of greatness is what the nine people entering our Hall of Fame this year represent. The M Club Hall of Fame recognizes the most exceptional individuals in our department's long history. Inclusion in the Hall of Fame is the most prestigious honor Gopher Athletics can present to an alumni athlete. I could not be more proud to present that honor to each person in this year's Hall of Fame class."
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