A native of Appleton, Minnesota, Brad Rheingans has one of the most impressive amateur resumes of any professional wrestler ever.

He won eight national titles in Greco-Roman wrestling and was an NCAA champion for North Dakota State University.

Rheingans also made two Olympic teams, placing fourth in 1976.

He won a bronze medal in the 1979 world championships and was a favorite to win a medal in the U.S boycotted 1980 Olympic Games.

He also won gold medals in two Pan-American Games.

Brad wrestled professionally for nearly 14 years and was one half of the AWA world tag-team championship team, with Ken Patera.

He won several other titles and earned respect for his clean-cut image and wrestling style.

After injuries forced him from the ring, he continued as a top-flight trainer and booker, working mostly in Japan.

One of the strongest wrestlers to ever step in a ring, he is a member of several halls of fame.

This Appleton, Minnesota native may have been raised in a 'small' town, but nothing else he did was anything but Big!

Rheingans was an all-state football player, two-time Minnesota state high school wrestling champion, a High School All-American and a Junior Greco-Roman World champion.

His success did not stop here.

Rheingans attended North Dakota State University and wrestled for legendary Hall of Fame coach Bucky Maughan, winning an NCAA Division II national title and earning NCAA Division I All-American honors in 1975. He was an NCAA Division II finalist in 1974 and finished sixth in 1972. He was also a three-time North Central Conference Champion and was named Outstanding Athlete at NDSU and Outstanding Athlete for the state of North Dakota.

He graduated from NDSU with degrees in pharmacy and human physiology.

Rheingans was member of the U.S. Greco-Roman World Championship team in 1975 and placed fourth at the 1976 Olympics, the highest Greco-Roman finish by an American.

A five-time National AAU champion, Brad was the 1976 World Cup Freestyle champion and a two-time National Greco-Roman champion. He placed fourth at the World Championships and was a finalist at the Mustafa World Tournament in 1978. Rheingans was a two-time gold medalist at the Pan American Games and was a bronze medalist at the 1979 World Championships in San Diego.

Rheingans fame made him an obvious choice for Professional Wrestling and he signed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1981.

Trained by legendary Hall of Fame wrestler Vern Gagne, he remained with AWA until 1986. He then signed with the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and has worked as wrestler and scout ever since. He and partner, Ken Patera, competed as "The Olympians" and were AWA World Tag Team Champions.

Rheingans was an assistant coach for the U.S. Greco-Roman team at the 1984 Olympics and he was also an assistant at the University of Minnesota from 1975-78 and at his alma mater from 1979-80.

He auditioned for the part of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and also worked as a stuntman in the Walt Disney movie Bad Guys.

Brad owned and operated World Wide School of Professional Wrestling, Inc., from 1984 to 2004.

Rheingans was all-conference and all-state in football and was named most valuable player. He was a two-time Little Sioux Conference and district champion in the discus and shot put. He still holds the school record of 47'9" in the shot put.

His high school wrestling coach was Robert Maughan, Bucky Maughan's brother.

Rheigans is a member of the Dave Bartelma Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame, the NCAA Division II Hall of Fame and the International Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Brad continues to work with the New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Inc. He travels back and forth from Japan.

He is a tremendous Ambassador for our sport and he will always be remembered in legendary proportions in the history of amateur wrestling. Minnesota is proud to claim him as our native son.