As a high school wrestler, his best finish was third in the state. But Wayne Baughman went on to compete in 25 national tournaments and placed as low as third only twice!

He won 16 national championships, was runner-up seven times, and became the first athlete to win a national title in each of four recognized styles of wrestling - folkstyle, freestyle, Greco-Roman and Sombo.

At the University of Oklahoma, he sandwiched the 1962 NCAA crown between a pair of runner-up efforts. But during his career as an Air Force officer, his wrestling success soared to unparalleled heights.

He won five national championships in Freestyle, nine in Greco-Roman and one in Sombo. He won eight world-wide Air Force trophies and 15 Interservice titles. He captured the Freestyle gold medal in the Pan American Games of 1967 and was a member of three Olympic teams and eight World teams. He was a place winner in Olympic or World competition in all three international styles. He served as captain of two Olympic teams, coach of another, manager of yet another. Five times he coached U.S. wrestlers in the World Championships.

Through a combination of ability, determination and self discipline, Wayne Baughman reaped a rich harvest in the fields of wrestling. And throughout his career he worked with equal diligence to plow those same values back into the sport. He was largely responsible for keeping the U.S. Air Force active in wrestling, and he coached service teams in eight years of international competition before becoming head coach at the Air Force Academy in 1975.

As a wrestler and as a coach, he was an ambassador for the sport, visiting many junior and senior high schools to stress the importance of academics as a part of athletic success.

As an athlete of incredible achievement, as a sportsman in the full sense of the word, Richard Wayne Baughman is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.