General | 10/5/2020 10:00:00 AM

WAVERLY, Iowa - The Wartburg College Athletics Hall of Fame Committee announced the class of 2020 inductees in July – Hannah (Baker) Bombei (women's track & field), Dan Hammes (football), Andy Hodge (men's cross country/track & field), Katie (Rapp) Houston (women's soccer) Collin Lane (men's soccer), Dusty Rhodes (wrestling), Matt Scherbring (baseball), Ryan Sturm (wrestling), and Bob Wachholz (football/men's track & field).

Wartburg Sports Information will be taking a closer look into each Wartburg 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees and their accomplishments as a Knight. Dusty Rhodes from Osage, Iowa who competed in wrestling during his time at the college in the late 1990's. 

A 1997 Wartburg graduate, Dusty Rhodes wrestled for the Knights from 1994-97, compiling a career record of 94-23 as a three-time All-American and two-time Iowa Conference champion at the 134-pound weight class. During his senior season in 1997, Rhodes tallied a record of 39-5 with 12 major decisions, earned the IIAC MVP, and went on to win the national title at 134 lbs. Rhodes was a member of three consecutive Wartburg conference championship squads and was a vital piece of the Knights' first national championship team in 1996, taking sixth place at the national meet in his respective weight class. Dusty has spent the last 17 years as the Mason City High School wrestling head coach and guidance counselor, residing in Mason City, Iowa with his wife Molly and children, Jace and Hale.

Q & A With Dusty Rhodes

Q: What are some of your favorite memories from your time wrestling at Wartburg?
I was a transfer and getting to know the people after I transferred in. I knew some of the people through wrestling in high school in Iowa but getting to know the people and building those relationships. I still have a lot of those [relationships] today and obviously the success at the national tournaments were always a highlight and fun to do. So, just being apart of the family and part of the process and achieving those things were memorable. 

Q: Have you kept up with the wrestling program since you left? 
You know, maybe more from a distance now than when I first left just because you still knew the people and a couple of coaches, up until recently, were people who went to school when I did. Not that I don't know Eric [Keller] and think that he does a good job, he does. I just probably follow from more of a distance the past few years but definitely following and paying attention to how they're doing. 

Q: What was it like winning the first team national championship for Wartburg back in 1996?
The '96 title was a lot of fun because that was the very first one. The year before we were not in the top three or top four, which was a let down during my first year there. But before that, it was second place, second place and we couldn't quite get over the hump. Even then we thought finally we got this guy a title. That felt really good because obviously [Jim Miller] was the face of the program and really had put a good thing together. Getting over the hump with that first one was really rewarding. 

Q: Can you talk about your national championship in 1997 and what that was like?
It was something I worked really hard for and focused on. I lost in overtime in the semifinals a year before, so it was always within reach. Then winning it in my last year was really a relief. It was a lot of fun to go through that process with my teammates and coaches. It was exciting. 

Q: What has life been like for you since leaving Wartburg? 
Mostly just teaching and coaching. This is my 18th year as a school counselor and I was a teacher at Pocahontas for four years prior to that. I've been in education and a head wrestling coach for the past 22 years. I've had a couple other teaching and assistant coaching jobs in the two years prior to that as well. 

Q: Who were some of the people at Wartburg that made your time memorable? 
Jim Miller obviously, he was the reason I transferred there in the first place. There was an expectation of me that I wasn't use to or hadn't been held to in a while. So that obviously was a great situation for me. All of my coaches and teammates were awesome. If I start naming people I am going to forget some, there was so many. The Walker brothers and the Hogan brothers were on the coaching staff and helped me out a ton. It was a really cool thing to be apart of because there wasn't a lot of animosity or jealously among us wrestlers. We were all there to compete hard because we were all pretty motivate and wanted the same thing. So, at the end of the day we were there to help each other, push each other and support each other. 

Q: What do you miss most about Wartburg and the wrestling program? 
It is hard when you are talking about 20 some years ago. You can say you miss those relationships with your teammates and coaches and working through that process. Enough time has gone by that I have created those things within my own system and program and obviously within my own family. I have a wife, we got married in 2001, and have two boys. One is a junior and one is a freshman. So obviously there is things you miss but it's hard to really look back once you start getting in your own groove and try to create some of those things for yourself.