Won state prep title for Buffalo Grove, NCAA medal for Illini
Lindsey Durlacher, a Greco-Roman wrestling world bronze medalist who won a state title for Buffalo Grove High School and was a two-time All-American at the University of Illinois, died Saturday at age 36 at his home in Denver, Colo.USA Wrestling, which announced Durlacher's passing in a release Saturday afternoon, had no details on the cause of death.
Durlacher won bronze in the 121-pound class at the 2006 World Championships. The next year, his fifth-place finish helped the United States win its first ever Greco-Roman world team title.
Durlacher won several gold medals in four appearances at the Maccabiah Games, where he wrestled both Greco-Roman and freestyle.
He won the Class AA state championship at 103 pounds in 1992, going 44-0-1 his senior year at Buffalo Grove, and took second in the 1997 NCAA Championships.
He went on to become an assistant coach at the University of Illinois, Northwestern, Northern Illiinois and the U.S. Naval Academy. He spent the past year coaching wrestling at Denver's RiNo Sport Galleri.
In 2007, Durlacher was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.