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    Jean Hazewinkel, mother/grandmother of Olympic wrestlers, passes

    Jean Hazewinkel, who sent two sons and a grandson to wrestle for the U.S. in the Olympics, passed away Jan. 6 in suburban Minneapolis. She was 97.

    Services were held last week.

    Jean Hazewinkel
    Jean Hazewinkel's identical twin sons Dave and Jim were members of the U.S. Greco-Roman team at two Olympics -- the 1968 Games in Mexico City, and the 1972 Munich Olympics. In addition, both were on six consecutive World and Olympic teams together (1967 through 1972). Jim was also member of the 1966 World team while Dave was the first American to win two World medals in Greco-Roman wrestling (bronze in 1969 and silver in 1970).

    Dave's son Sam Hazewinkel represented the U.S. in men's freestyle competition at the 2012 London Olympics. Sam was also a U.S. national champion in Greco-Roman in 2005 and 2007 and he was a four-time NCAA All-American wrestler for the University of Oklahoma.

    The Hazewinkel family received the Legacy Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.

    Jim and Dave were introduced to wrestling as juniors at Anoka High School outside Minneapolis. In their first year in the sport, Dave took the state championship at in the 95-pound weight class, while Jim placed second at state tournament at 103 pounds. The two went on to wrestle at current NCAA Division II team titlewinner St. Cloud State University, then were drafted and wrestled for the all-Army wrestling team, then the world team, then the U.S. Olympic team.

    When asked about her sons' wrestling accomplishments in a 2012 ABC Newspapers interview, Jean Hazewinkel said, "I never expected this. When (Jim and Dave) got into high school they wanted to play sports, but they were not tall, so basketball was out. I guess the (wrestling) coach saw them and asked them to wrestle (their junior year), so they tried that and they liked it."

    Jean Inga Hallan Hazewinkel was born February 26, 1919 in Michigan. She graduated from Moline High School in Michigan in 1937, where she was a member of the girls' basketball team. She later attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for Biblical Studies. Jean Hallan married Albert Hazewinkel on September 26, 1941. Together they raised five children: Judith (Judy), Nancy, and Douglas (Doug), and identical twins, James (Jim) and David (Dave). Jean Hazewinkel had 11 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren.

    Jean Hazewinkel remained active her entire life. Her obituary mentioned that continued to maintain her garden, mow the lawn, and shovel the walks. In the summer of 2015, a Twin Cities TV station did a story that showed Jean Hazewinkel swooping down the giant slide at the Minnesota State Fair at age 96.

    "The best mom there was," Jim Hazewinkel, now living in Alabama, told ABC Newspapers upon her passing. "She was perfect. She lived for the Lord and taught us to live for the Lord. And I'm really glad of that."

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