Former Olympic champion Randy Lewis (in white) demonstrates a move, with the help of Winner's Jayd Docken, to members of Team South Dakota on Wednesday on the campus of South Dakota State University.

Randy Lewis personifies the definition of legend.

When I was told that the former Olympic gold medalist was putting on a wrestling clinic for Team South Dakota at SDSU on Wednesday, I had to go deep into the memory bank to recall everything that I remembered about Lewis.

I was off about 10 years on Lewis' accomplishments, but after watching the way that he conducted the clinic with South Dakota's best, and then watching clips of Lewis' matches in his prime, I couldn't help but think that the wrestling world is lucky to have him back in it.

After a high school career at Rapid City Stevens in which he went 89-0 with 83 pins in his final three seasons, including a national prep mark of 45 straight pins, Lewis went on to the University of Iowa where he won two NCAA titles as a four-time All-American . He then made the 1980 Olympic team, but President Jimmy Carter's boycott prevented the U.S. team from traveling to the Games in Moscow.

But it was the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where Lewis made his mark, winning the gold medal in freestyle wrestling at 136.5 pounds, outscoring his first four opponents 52-4 to advance to the final, where he crushed Japan's Kosei Akaishi 24-11 in 4:52. He finished second in the 1988 Olympic trials to John Smith, who wound up winning a gold medal, before winning the Pan American championship in 1990.

Lewis hung up his singlet in 1992 - about the time that the majority of Team South Dakota was born.

But after a 15-year hiatus, Lewis came back to the sport as a coach for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club in Iowa City, Iowa. He stepped back onto the mat in earnest in May of 2009 when he competed in the Northern Plains Regional in Waterloo, Iowa, posting a 2-1 record.

Lewis was never was too far away from the wrestling world, making the trek to the Division I national championships every year and occasionally doing a couple of camps in the summer and after watching Wednesday's clinic, I could tell that his passion for the sport had never waned. "I know there is a lot of good kids in South Dakota and I wanted the chance to get to work with them," Lewis said about his appearance in Brookings. "So I came out here for a couple of days to help get these guys get ready for junior nationals and the rest of their careers."

The USA Wrestling Junior National Championships start tomorrow in Fargo, and looking at Team South Dakota's lineup, these guys are going to have lengthy careers.

Eight of the 15 team members already own at least one state title and are looking to take their talent to the next level.

State champions include Sturgis' Josh Keszler and Seth Lange, Canton's Jeremiah Peterson and Tom Davies, Tri-Valley's Garrett Heiberger, Stevens' Kris Klapprodt, Wagner 's Robert Kokesh and Jayd Docken of Winner.

Other members of the team are Morgan Engbrecht of Brandon Valley, Nick Montieth of Spearfish, Cade Buysse and Evan Murphy of Dell Rapids, Jesse Docken of Winner, Derrick Walraven of Huron and Rex Lyon of Sturgis.

All of Team South Dakota will be competing in freestyle and a some will take part in the Greco-Roman competition as well.

According to Team South Dakota assistant coach Ray Rinkmeister, this is a 'dream team' that will only get better with Lewis' tutelage. And even though this is an elite team, Lewis commented that he has learned new moves in the last two years of coaching - new techniques that he has combined with his old technique and turning them into a better technique - and passing that knowledge on to the next generation of wrestlers.

"Not every move is the right move," he said, "but it's a combination of wrestling and different moves (that will make you successful)."

With Lewis' expert tutelage and Team South Dakota's talent, perhaps there is a new legend waiting in the wings.