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- Hometown:
- Morning Sun, Iowa
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- Title:
- Student-Athlete
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- Previous College Sports Played:
- Men's Wrestling, Football, & Baseball
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- Graduating Class:
- 1969
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- Induction Class:
- 1977
Bio
One of the most decorated high school, and small college wrestling coaches in the state of Iowa, Morning Sun, Iowa, native Al Baxter received the Lifetime Service Award to Wrestling, and was inducted into the Iowa Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
After graduation from Morningside in 1969, Baxter was named head wrestling coach at Lisbon (Iowa) High School, where his teams captured five state championships over a nine-year span, and recorded a 76-14-1 record in duals.
He was named head wrestling coach at Buena Vista in 1978, and over the next 26 years transformed the Beavers into an NCAA Division III wrestling power, charting 12 Top ten finishes at the national tournament. He coached six national champions, 71 All-Americans, and 37 Academic All-Americans. His overall record at BV was 376-119-5. At Morningside, Baxter was a three-sport athlete, serving as nose tackle on the football team, played baseball, and a standout wrestler for coach Arnie Brandt, where he finished sixth in the small college national tournament at 190 pounds.