Inductees

Tedder was a four-year letterman at Oklahoma State University from 1947-50. OSU had a 35-0 dual meet record during this time, winning two NCAA Team Championships. Leon competed in at least two NCAA Championship wrestling tournaments. In his senior year, Leon was undefeated and no points were scored against him, but he was injured just prior to the NCAA Championships and unable to participate. From 1952-55, he coached wrestling at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in Texas. Tedder started his high school coaching at East Bakersfield High School, and his teams became a powerhouse of the South Yosemite League and the CIF Central Section throughout his 15 years of coaching.

His 1961 and 1962 teams were the Central Section champions, and his 1960 and 1968 teams placed second in the Section. These were the first Central Section Championship teams to come out of the Bakersfield area. His teams finished in the Top 9 of the Section in 10 of the 15 seasons that he coached there. In the first year the Kern High School District allowed teams to travel and compete of of the area, Tedder’s East Bakersfield team won the 1960 Cal Poly Tournament in San Luis Obispo. They won again in 1961 and in 1962.

Coach Tedder was known as one of the finest technical coaches in the Section, and he coached 11 individuals to CIF Championships. Two of his wrestlers were on the first California Culture Exchange Team to wrestle in Japan.

Leon also officiated at most of the major high school and college wrestling competitions for 25 years. He was an outstanding educator in the Mathematics Department at EBHS. He is remembered as a true wrestling pioneer who was instrumental in getting the sport rolling in the Bakersfield and Kern County area. Tedder was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.