Anderson named to Michigan State Hall of Fame

Dale Anderson, two-time NCAA champ and key member of the 1967 Spartan wrestling team that won that school's first national mat team title, is one of five athletic alums who will be welcomed into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame this fall, the East Lansing-based school announced Tuesday.

Dale Anderson

In announcing Dale Anderson's place in the Class of 2018 for the MSU Hall of Fame, school athletics director Bill Beekman said, "Dale Anderson is one of the most decorated Michigan State wrestlers of all time. He excelled on the mat, as one of just five two-time NCAA Champion wrestlers in school history. His individual success included three Big Ten titles and three All-American honors. But he's just as proud of the team's success of three conference championships and one national title during his wrestling career. For all his athletic success, his academic performance was just as strong, posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during his NCAA Championship season in 1967, and being selected as MSU's 1968 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient."

Anderson won back-to-back NCAA titles at 137 pounds in 1967 and 1968, and is considered instrumental in helping Michigan State win the team title at the 1967 NCAAs, earning that honor before other Big Ten mat programs such as University of Iowa, Penn State, or Minnesota.

"Things fell into place that season," Anderson, a Spartan from 1965-1968, is quoted as saying in the Michigan State Hall of Fame announcement. "We certainly didn't go into year thinking that we were going to win the national championship; we were nobodies in the wrestling world. We just wanted respect."

Before coming to Michigan State to wrestle for legendary coaches Grady Peninger and Doug Blubaugh, Anderson had deep wrestling roots in the state of Iowa. He was born in Fort Dodge, but eventually ended up in Waterloo, where he attended Waterloo West High. Anderson wrestled for legendary coach Bob Siddens, and was a teammate of Dan Gable's, though, as he pointed out in a 2016 interview with InterMat for his book "A Spartan Journey: Michigan State's 1967 Miracle on the Mat", "There was very little intersection with Dan Gable, but a lot with his dad," as Anderson was a senior, and Gable was a sophomore.

Anderson won two Iowa high school state titles at Waterloo West. Then, after generating considerable interest among college wrestling programs, Anderson headed east to East Lansing to continue his on-the-mat success which has now resulted in being honored by his college alma mater's athletics hall of fame.

Anderson and the other four Class of 2018 honorees -- Savatheda (Fynes) Coke (track & field), Rachel Miller (rowing), Jimmy Raye (football), and Bill Wehrwein (track & field) -- will be welcomed into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday, Sept. 27 as part of the school's annual "Celebrate" weekend.

The Celebrate 2018 weekend includes the ninth-annual Varsity Letter Jacket Presentation and Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 27 and then a special recognition of the Hall of Famers during the Michigan State-Central Michigan football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 29.

The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays key moments in Spartan Athletics history as well as plaques of the 144 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.

"I'm in awe at the list of credentials for this year's Hall of Fame class," said MSU AD Bill Beekman. "This group has combined for 14 All-American honors, 12 individual Big Ten Championships, six individual NCAA Championships and three team NCAA Championships."

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Anderson named to Michigan State Hall of Fame

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