Dr David Curby presenting the Jacob Curby award to Andy Bisek at the OTC in Colorado Springs.
The Jacob Curby award is given to greco-roman athletes who show acts of outstanding leadership and character. This year's recipient from the Colorado Springs based Greco-Roman National Team is Pan-Am games champion and 2015 world bronze medalist , Andy Bisek. Last Friday, Dr David Curby, founder of the Curby Cup and the Curby foundation presented the honors to Bisek in person at the OTC.
The Jacob Curby Foundation has been formed to honor the memory of Jacob Curby, and with the mission of teaching strong values through wrestling participation, growing youth participation in wrestling as a path to success and personal growth, and the advancement of Olympic-style international wrestling competition in the United States.
Curby vs Lester 66kg
In an effort to memorialize Jacob and what he stood for with his wonderful character USA Wrestling established an award called the “Jacob Curby Memorial Award.” Every year USA Wrestling recognizes a Greco-Roman athlete from each of our two Olympic Training Centers. This award is given to a wrestler who has displayed strong personal character and commitment to the sport of Greco-Roman wrestling.
Curby said, “Presenting this award in Jake’s name gives our family great joy. Andy and Travis are both talented wrestlers, as well as classy people. Andy and Jake were friends and teammates in Marquette for about 6 years. It has been a thrill watching Andy win his two world championship bronze medals. My wife and I look forward to presenting Travis his award in New York at the Bill Farrell International Tournament on November 5th!”
The Curby Cup is the flagship event on The Jacob Curby Foundation calendar, showcasing the finest wrestlers from around the world in a competition with the American National Team.
Travis Rice is the 2015 Jacob Curby award recipient from the Northern Michigan University.
Each year Dr. Curby awards two wrestlers from the Greco-Roman national team program with the Jacob Curby award that embody the character and spirit of his son Jacob who passed away unexpectedly several days after returning from a wrestling tournament in Russia. Recipients from Colorado Springs at the OTC and from the Northern Michigan University in Marquette Michigan are eligible to win this award. This year's winner from Northern Michigan was Travis Rice.
Congratulations to Andy Bisek and Travis Rice for their outstanding character and leadership abilities both off and on the mat.