Former Rocket Named National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member

Former Rocket Named National Wrestling Hall of Fame Distinguished Member

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame recently announced that former Rocket Greg Wojciechowski has been named to its Class of 2025 as a Distinguished Member.

Wojciechowski will be honored and officially inducted along with the entire class during the 48th Honors Weekend on June 6-7, 2025, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is the second Rocket to be named a Distinguished Member, joining Dick Wilson, a three-time All-American in the 1960s who was inducted in 2016.

Wojciechowski was an NCAA Division I champion and three-time NCAA finalist at heavyweight for the Rockets from 1970-73. He is generally regarded as the greatest wrestler ever at The University of Toledo. Wrestling as a heavyweight, Wojciechowski won one NCAA title, earned two second-place finishes and was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team.

Wojciechowski began his career with a bang as a sophomore in 1970 (freshmen were not allowed to participate on the varsity team at that time). That season, Wojciechowski won 18-of-19 matches, losing only in the championship round of the NCAA Championships. One year later, Wojciechowski became UToledo's second NCAA heavyweight champion, leading the Rockets to their highest team finish ever at the NCAAs (13th place). He outscored his opponents 94-15 in matches that went to a decision that season and went on to win the National AAU title as well. As a senior, he won 14 of his 15 matches, with his only defeat coming in the NCAA championship title match to 415-pound Chris Taylor of Iowa State. He finished his intercollegiate career with a record of 55-2 and won three straight MAC heavyweight titles.

He also represented the United States in international wrestling, finishing fourth in the World Wrestling Championships in Edmonton, Canada in 1970. He also represented the U.S. in 1975 and 1976. Wojciechowski competed in the AAU National Freestyle Championships, winning the heavyweight freestyle division eight times as well as the Greco-Roman five times from 1969-79. He also placed fifth in the 1978 world freestyle championships.

Wojciechowski was runner-up at the Olympic Trials and was named an alternate for the U.S. Olympic teams in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1968, 1972 and 1976, and in freestyle in 1972 and 1976 before making the team in 1980. In that year, he won the U.S. Olympic Trials in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman events, the last American heavyweight to sweep both events at the trials. Unfortunately, the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics kept Wojciechowski from participating.

After his successful amateur wrestling career, Wojciechowski made the jump to professional wrestling. Known as "The Great Wojo," Wojciechowski spent 12 years as a professional wrestler, winning three World Wrestling Association heavyweight championship titles. He retired from the WWA as champion in 1987.

Wojciechowski has a master's degree in guidance and counseling and worked almost 30 years as a high school teacher and counselor. He was inducted into The University of Toledo Varsity T Hall of Fame in 1978 and the George Tragos and Lou Thesz Pro National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.