Lindland Inducted to National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Former Nebraska wrestler and coach Matt Lindland is to be inducted to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member, announced Thursday, Oct. 31. Lindland is the fifth Husker to receive the honor.

The 1993 Big Eight champion was a volunteer assistant coach at Nebraska under Tim Neumann for four seasons from 1996-2000. Lindland assisted in coaching 10 All-Americans for the Huskers, including a standout 1999-2000 season that saw Nebraska crown four All-Americans and finish eighth as a team. Nebraska was 52-25 in his four seasons in Lincoln.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors distinguished members as “a wrestler who has achieved extraordinary success in national and/or international competition; a coach who has demonstrated great leadership in the profession and who has compiled an outstanding record; or a contributor whose long-term activities have substantially enhanced the development and advancement of the sport.”

Lindland also had a storied career wrestling for the Huskers. He helped NU to its best finish ever in 1992-93, compiling a 36-1 record, with an 11-0 dual mark at 158 pounds. His victory total put him in the top 10 in single-season wins, and his .973 winning percentage tied him for No. 1 on NU's all-time list with Bill Scherr. Lindland's only loss came at the NCAA Championships, which prevented him from All-America honors

His season was the driving force behind Nebraska's No. 2 final dual ranking and third-place NCAA finish. He won the Big Eight title at 158 pounds and helped NU to the 1993 Big Eight team title.

Lindland continued his wrestling career on the international level, earning a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and competing at four World Championships. He was also named the 1999 USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year.

The Class of 2025 will be honored and officially inducted during the 48th Honors Weekend on June 6 and 7, 2025 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Release on Lindland:

Matt Lindland is an Olympic and World silver medalist in Greco-Roman and served as head coach of the United States Greco-Roman team from 2014 to 2022. He represented the United States in the first of four World Championships in 1997, finishing sixth in 1998 and earning his silver medal in 2001. He won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games in freestyle in 1994 and in Greco-Roman in 1999 and was a silver medalist in Greco-Roman at the Pan Am Championships in 1997 and 2000. He was named the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year in 1999. He was a junior college national champion for Clackamas Community College in Oregon and a Big Eight Conference champion who helped the University of Nebraska win the Big Eight Conference team title. He helped Nebraska to a school-best third-place finish at the 1993 NCAA Championships, compiling a 36-1 record and an 11-0 dual mark. His 36 wins ranked in the Top 10 in single-season wins while his .973 winning percentage tied him for first on the all-time list with Bill Scherr, a Distinguished Member inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1998. Lindland's only loss came at the NCAA tournament and prevented him from being an All-American. He was a two-time place-winner at the Oregon state tournament for Gladstone High School in Gladstone, Oregon. After seeing his Team USA Greco-Roman teammate Randy Couture, who was honored as an Outstanding American by the Hall of Fame in 2018, fight in the UFC, Lindland fought "No Holds Barred" in 1997, but then put mixed martial arts on hold to accomplish his wrestling goals. After winning his Olympic silver medal, he returned to UFC in December of 2000. He had a professional record of 22-9 and competed in UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction, Bodog Fight, World Fighting Alliance and International Fight League.

He is co-founder and owner of the world-famous Team Quest Fight Club while also being co-founder and promoter for SportFight, the premier professional mixed martial arts organization in the Pacific Northwest, and the head coach for the Portland Wolf Pack of the IFL. He was an assistant coach for Clackamas Community College, which won the National Junior College Athletic Association team title in 2011 and won the National Duals title and placed third at the NJCAA tournament with a record seven All-Americans in 2014. He was an assistant coach for Nebraska from 1996-2000 and coached NCAA champion Brad Vering and All-American Justin Ruiz, who both went on to be world medalists in Greco-Roman. He worked with Chael Sonnen at West Linn High School in Oregon before returning to Nebraska as an assistant coach. 

He is one of the founders of Team Quest MMA in Portland, Oregon. He founded the North West kids wrestling program and coached at two of the top wrestling clubs in the United States, Cobra Wrestling Club and Peninsula Wrestling Club in Portland, Oregon.