Hall of Fame Inductee - Martin (Bill) Schwartz

A 1948 graduate of Quincy High School, Schwartz earned All-State honors as a lineman in football and won the Illinois High School Association state wrestling championship in the 165-pound class as a senior - the school's first state wrestling champion in the sports inaugural season. Schwartz lost only one match that season, his first. He went on to the University of Illinois, where he played football for three years and was on the wrestling team for four. While at Illinois, he twice finished second in the Big 10 Conference tournament - once at 177 pounds and once at 167 pounds. Schwartz was the Fighting Illini captain in 1952, when he won all of his regular season matches and was voted the team's most valuable wrestler. He was a football and wrestling coach at Leyden Community High School in Northlake, Illinois from 1952-87. He had a career wrestling coaching record of 174-34-2 and produced one state champion. He was voted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1977 and into the Quincy High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.