MARTINS FERRY — A veteran Ohio Valley official will be one of nine individuals inducted into the 16th annual National Wrestling Hall of Fame West Virginia Chapter’s “Hall of Fame Day” during a gala banquet on Sunday, Oct. 28, at Embassy Suites in Charleston.

Bridgeport resident Ray Marling, who hung up his whistle and striped shirt following the 2017 season, will receive the “Lifetime Service to Wrestling” award.

“Truly an honor. I never thought something like this would happen when I started (officiating) a long time ago,” Marling said. “I wouldn’t say I was shocked to be honored. I would say I was humbled because this is something that doesn’t come around very often. Not many people receive an honor like this, and I will truly treasure this for the rest of my life.”

The event will begin at 1 p.m. with a social and memorabilia display. Dinner will be served at 1:45 with the award presentation to follow. The purpose of this banquet is to honor and recognize people for their years of commitment as positive role models to the student-athletes. Also being enshrined are John Geary, Jim Issac, Mike Litton, Kim North, Ray Pernell, Gary Porter, Chuck Satterfield and John Staggers II.

These individuals have given countless hours of their time instilling in young people the skills needed to succeed in all areas of life. They will be permanently recognized with a plaque at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Okla.

Marling was graduated from John Marshall High School in 1972. He wrestled for legendary coaches Bill Hinegardner and Ed Dugas from 1970-72. Throughout the years, marling has credited these two gentlemen for nurturing his love for wrestling.

“Two fine men. Coach Hinegardner, not only as a coach, a person, a guidance counselor, he was definitely a stabilizing force in my life as a young man. He made a big difference in my life and a lot of other young men back then. The same with Ed. Two great men,” Marling stressed.

As a member of the Ohio Valley Wrestling Officials Association (OVWOA), Marling started officiating in 1985. He took on a leadership role of the association in 1988 as the board secretary, a position he held for 14 years.

He also served as its vice president for the last five years and was instrumental in starting an official’s scholarship for an area wrestler every year.

During those years, Marling served on the Ohio High School East District Association Appeal and Review Board, as well as the Assignor for sectional and district tournaments for 12 years.

He retired from officiating in March of 2017.

As an arbiter on the mats for more than 30 years, Marling worked 28 W.Va. state tournaments, 30 Ohio Valley Athletic Conference tournaments, 14 W.Va. Class AAA regional tournaments, 15 W.Va. Class A/AA regional tournaments, 19 Ohio Division II and III district tournaments, and 15 Ohio Division II and III sectional tournaments. In fact, he is one of only two wrestling officials to be invited to referee the W.Va. state championships in his first year of eligibility.

“I wrestled one varsity match. It happened to be against a future Navy Seal, who happened to be coached by Dr. (Bill) Welker. He abused me for all he could stand, about 30 seconds and then he pinned me,” he said of his start in the sport. “I got into officiating because in the early 1980s a bunch of us former wrestlers thought there was a need for a small fry program. We didn’t call it that, but we felt there was a need for a program in Marshall County to keep pace with the rest of the state.

“We approached Coach Hinegardner about it and he was not in favor of it. He thought the kids would get burned out over the years. We respected his opinion, so Coach (Ed) West, who was the head coach at John Marshall at the time, approached him and got Coach Hinegardner’s blessing,” Marling noted. “I, along with my best friend in the world, Rick Kittle, and a bunch of other former wrestlers from John Marshall started the program. It was self-supporting. We set the mats up. We cleaned the mats. We tore the mats down. We officiated. We did everything. That’s where I got my first taste of officiating. I can’t say that I loved it, but it helped get me started.”

Over the years, Marling has received numerous accolades for his mat officiating mechanics. In 1994, he was selected as the W.Va. Wrestling Officials of the Year. He was also named the 1998 Ohio Wrestling Official of the Year.

But most rewarding to Marling is being selected three times as the Larry Deaton Official of the Year (1996, 1998, 2005) by the OVAC wrestling officials. In fact, he was not only the first recipient of the award, but the only Ohio Valley officials to be selected three times.

In his three-decade-plus career, he has heard and seen just about everything.

“Dr. Welker, who was our rules interpreter for several years, always wanted us as officials to be stoic when we were on the mat … no emotion. He didn’t want us to show any emotion either way, especially when the fans would interact with us, which was usually negative comments.

“I just couldn’t do that,” he admitted. “I smile a lot. I smile because I enjoy what I do. I’ve enjoyed officiating for years and one of the biggest reasons I smile is that I hear the comments that the fans make. Some of them are good ones. Some of them are absurd. Most of them are unfounded, but they are entitled to their opinions. A lot of them (comments) are comical. I even offered my whistle to a fan, who didn’t take it.”

There was one match that stood out in his mind.

“I took my wife with me one time to an Oak Glen at East Liverpool match. That gymnasium at East Liverpool is pretty good size and it is a hot rivalry,” he noted. “I’m working the match and my wife is sitting down front. I look over every once in a while and she smiles at me after every match. About halfway through I look over and I don’t see her. I’m looking around and looking around. I can’t find her. Remember now, this is a big gym. Finally, I see this arm waving at me from way down in the corner. She’s sitting by herself and I think ‘oh my. She got into an argument with somebody and told somebody off sticking up for me.

“So, afterwards we go out to dinner and I ask her, ‘honey, why were you sitting by yourself? Did you get into an argument?’ She replied, ‘yes I did get into an argument over you. This lady said the kid wasn’t stalling and I said he was. The lady then asked how I knew, and my wife said that’s my husband refereeing the match and he’s doing a poor job.

“I learned my lesson there. Never take your wife to a wrestling match that you are officiating.”

A retired coal miner for CONSOL Energy, Marling and his lovely wife, Jackie, have four children — Jack, Jason, Heather and Rob — and are enjoying their five grandchildren: Drew, Derion, Zane, Maddie and Tori.