STILLWATER, Okla. — The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced former Badger wrestler and coach Andy Rein as a distinguished member of its Class of 2022 on Wednesday.
"Following an extensive screening and selection process, I am excited to announce such a notable and deserving group of honorees for 2022," said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. "We are fortunate to be able to spotlight these inductees who have transcended our sport's heritage over the past 40 years. It is also a class that represents the positive transformational impact females are realizing in wrestling, with two female Distinguished Members and our first female Medal of Courage recipient."
The induction ceremony will be held at the 45th Honors Weekend on June 3-4, 2022 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
A native of Stoughton, Wisconsin, Rein was a silver medalist at the Olympics in 1984 after being an alternate for the 1980 Olympics. He captured a gold medal at the prestigious Tbilisi International Tournament in 1983 and was a silver medalist at the Super Champion Title Tournament in Tokyo in 1985. The four-time National Freestyle champion won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in 1979 while finishing fourth at the world championships in 1981 and earning a silver medal at the World Cup in 1982. He was an NCAA champion and two-time finalist for Wisconsin, capturing the national title at 150 pounds in 1980. Rein was a three-time All-American and a two-time Big Ten champion while also winning three Midlands Tournament titles. He was a two-time East-West All-Star Meet champion and had a career record of 119-13-1.
Rein was a two-time Wisconsin high school state champion for Stoughton High School while also capturing state and national AAU titles in Greco-Roman and freestyle.
He was head coach for Wisconsin for seven seasons, leading the Badgers to Top 15 finishes at the NCAA Division I Championships six times. Rein coached three national champions and 14 All-Americans while compiling a career record of 81-41-3. He was NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year in 1987 and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1992. He was a National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Team coach in 1993 and was a member of USA Wrestling's national freestyle coaching staff. Rein was named University of Wisconsin Athlete of the Century and was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. He received the Area Sportsperson of the Year Award in 1976 and 1980 from the Madison Sports Hall of Fame. Rein is a member of the Midlands Hall of Fame, the George Martin Wrestling Hall of Fame and received the Badger Legend Award.
Read the full announcement here on nwhof.org.
