New Brighton, Minnesota – The National Wrestling Media Association announced today the recipients of its Spotlight Award, which highlights excellence in wrestling coverage and innovation.
Tyler Meisinger of FloWrestling, Erin Rooney of KCRG 9.2, Justin Hoch of JHoch Photo, Ross Bendik of The Foundation for Wrestling Art & Innovation, and the tandem of Dave Birkett and Sandy Hooper of USA Today are this year’s recipients of the Spotlight Award.
“The Spotlight Award was designed to recognize standout performances that may not fit into any of our traditional awards categories,” said NWMA President Jason Bryant. “Sometimes you have that feature, that video, that enterprise project that stands out on its own, and that’s the type of people and effort this award represents.”
Justin Hoch, a former wrestler at Binghamton and an award-winning photographer, covered the 2024 run to the Olympic Games in Paris through the lens. Hoch, the NWMA’s Photographer of the Year in 2016-17, covered the Pan American Olympic Qualifier in Mexico, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Penn State, the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, as well as the 2024 Games in Paris. Combined with U.S. domestic events and college coverage throughout the season, Hoch logged over 43,000 miles and shot nearly half a million photos.
- PHOTOS & PORTFOLIO: JHoch.com
“Justin is a highly respected photographer known for his keen eye, technical precision, and ability to capture the raw intensity of wrestling,” said NWMA officer and award-winning photographer Tony Rotundo. “More than just action shots, his work tells compelling stories of athletes through emotion, movement, and composition. His genuine kindness and deep respect for the sport allow him to connect with wrestlers on a personal level, bringing out their passion and dedication in every frame. Whether shooting at the highest levels or grassroots competitions, Justin consistently delivers powerful imagery that highlights the heart and spirit of wrestling.”
Also centered around the Olympics was the incredible feature from USA Today’s Dave Birkett and Sandy Hooper documenting Team USA’s trip to the beaches of Normandy, focusing specifically on Team USA men’s freestyle heavyweight Mason Parris.
Parris’ great-grandfather, Vermont Marqua, was part of the D-Day invasion, where more than 150,000 Allied troops came ashore in Northern France during World War II. The feature blended history, sports, and family and connected two of the world’s most iconic events – the Olympic Games and World War II.
- STORY: Trip to Normandy Gives Olympic Wrestler New Perspective on What Great-Grandfather Endured (by Dave Birkett, USA Today)
“USA Wrestling was pleased that USA Today was able to join our Olympic athletes in Normandy, France, during their acclimation training camps prior to the start of the Olympic Games in Paris. Shortly after the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Olympic wrestler Mason Parris was able to visit the sites where his great-grandfather was among 150,000 Allied troops that landed on the beaches there during World War II,” said USA Wrestling Director of Communications and NWMA founding member Gary Abbott.
“Not only was Dave Birkett’s feature article amazingly compelling, but the USA Today team captured dramatic photos by Sandy Hooper and videos of the U.S. wrestlers as they visited the historic sites. USOPC Press Officer and USA Wrestling Senior Manager of Communications Richard Immel organized the USA Today feature, which was a huge success for wrestling,” said Abbott.
Also working the Olympic Games was Tyler Meisinger, a video content creator for FloWrestling. A 2020 Division I Championships qualifier as a wrestler at Michigan, Meisinger has made a significant impact on the video production at FloWrestling in his two-plus years working for the sport’s largest media outlet. In addition to being part of Flo’s robust video coverage team, Meisinger’s features developed around the USA Wrestling Junior & 16U Nationals show the fun side of the sport and traveled to Hawaii to chronicle wrestling’s fundraising efforts in the wake of the destructive wildfires on Maui. One of Meisinger’s most notable works in the past year was chronicling the start of the recruiting journeys of Bishop McCort (Pa.) standouts Jax Forrest and Bo Bassett.
- VIDEO: YOU Raised $20,000 to HELP Wrestlers Affected by Fires in Maui
- VIDEO: Inside Day 1 of Recruiting for Top Wrestling Prospets Bo Bassett & Jax Forrest
- VIDEO: I Survived Off The Fargo Black Market
- VIDEO: Behind the Scenes with Team USA at the Paris Olympics
“Tyler Meisinger has quickly become one of the most dynamic storytellers in the sport,” said FloWrestling Content Manager David Bray. “His combination of creativity, technical video skills, and a wrestler’s work ethic set him apart. He’s been unmatched in creating innovative wrestling content creation over the last couple of years, and we can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Erin Rooney joined KCRG-TV9, an ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in June 2010. She began assisting with the company’s live events coverage a little more than a year later. For the last 14 years, Rooney has made it her passion to highlight high school sports, broadcasting live competition on digital channel KCRG 9.2 and www.kcrg.com. She has been a champion for the sport of wrestling, growing coverage from a few duals per season to weekly duals during the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union regular seasons.
KCRG 9.2 schedules six to seven duals per season, televising boys’ and girls’ double duals on an equal stage. Rooney, a native of Cottage Grove, Minn., and a 2008 graduate of St. Cloud State, values the sport and has worked tirelessly to continue wrestling’s exposure.
“The wrestling events are important to cover because they are important to the people we are here to serve,” said Rooney, who has also televised D-II and D-III events. “What’s important to them is important to us, and wrestling is something that so many people are passionate about.”
Girls’ wrestling has exploded in Iowa, earning sanctioned status for the 2022-23 season after a few years of having an unsanctioned state tournament. Rooney was one of the first to televise girls’ wrestling duals, becoming a trailblazer and having the vision to include girls’ duals before the sport was sanctioned by the state.
“It’s been great to be able to show the growth of girls’ wrestling leading up to it being a sanctioned sport here,” Rooney said. “You know they are putting in the work and want to be a part of something, so if you have the chance to shine a light on it, you do.”
Ross Bendik began his wrestling career at Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio, under the tutelage of coach Mark Peck. While attending Penn State as an undergrad, he re-formed the NCWA club program and opened the team to women wrestlers for the first time.
In 2017, to introduce his young twin sons to wrestling, he painted a few of their LEGO minifigs like iconic wrestlers. Ross continued to create wrestling art across a range of mediums.
In 2021, he founded The Foundation for Wrestling Art & Innovation, a non-profit that fosters creative collaboration and innovation across the sport of wrestling.
“There’s so much to sift through on social media these days, and it really takes a lot to stand out in that crowd, but what Ross has been able to do is capture the virality of iconic moments in the sport and then turn them into artwork that serves multiple purposes, including promotional graphics, t-shirts, and, of course, stickers,” said Bryant.
“There’s a degree of wit, dry humor, cleverness, traditional wrestling parlance, with a dash of inside joke that makes his content valuable to the sport – whether it be from the artistic side or that art moving into the media and coverage side.”
About the National Wrestling Media Association
The National Wrestling Media Association (NWMA) is the national professional organization for journalists who cover the sport of amateur wrestling. This includes reporters, editors, publishers, webmasters, photographers, broadcasters, sports information directors and other media professionals who share an interest and involvement in the sport.
The NWMA represents the interests of journalists within the sport of wrestling. It shall be a resource for its members for networking and information sharing. In addition, the NWMA will strive to support the growth of wrestling and its position within the sports world and the general public by developing more quality coverage of the sport through all available media outlets. A focus on the history of the world’s oldest sport and accuracy in reporting on wrestling is the foundation of the organization’s mission.
For information on membership and lists of past winners and resources provided by the association, visit nationalwrestlingmedia.com or follow on X.com at @MediaWrestle and Facebook at fb.com/nationalwrestlingmedia.
