Sandy Stevens (2016) - Hall of Fame

Sandy Stevens

Induction:
2016
Class:
1962

Sandy Stevens is one of the top ambassadors for the sport of wrestling. She is recognized globally as the voice of wrestling, but she has never forgotten her UNI roots.

Stevens earned her bachelor of arts in English teaching from the State College of Iowa. She and her late husband, Bob “Bear” Stevens, moved to Cedar Rapids after earning their collegiate degrees. Bear was beginning his job as the first wrestling coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School and the night before a meet he realized he needed an announcer. He asked Sandy if she would do it and she has not looked back.

Nearly a half century has passed since that night in Cedar Rapids and Sandy has enjoyed every stop along the way including announcing the NCAA Division I Championships for 34 years, multiple world championships, numerous independent and high school tournaments along with a pair of Olympic games (1984 – Los Angeles; 1996 – Atlanta).

She has received the Order of Merit from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Meritorious Service Award from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the International “Exceptionelle” ranking from United World Wrestling. She was also a 2002 inductee into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Sandy started the “Pledges for Pins” initiative at UNI in the fall of 2007. The program has generated more than $132,000 and has drawn wrestling support from 17 states.

In the fall of 2015, Stevens helped create the Bear and Sandy Stevens Head Wrestling Coach Endowment at the University of Northern Iowa. Funds from this endowment will be used to support the salary of the UNI wrestling coach position. This isn’t the first time that Stevens has given back to UNI as she was the lead donor in the wrestling room renovation project in the West Gym and has endowed two wrestling scholarships.

Stevens is a board member of both the UNI Foundation and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. She continues to represent UNI in the Chicago area in a variety of capacities, including assisting UNI’s admissions counselors in recruiting Chicago-land residents to attend UNI.

When she is not behind the microphone, she enjoys spending time with her children (Scott and Summer) and her grandchildren (Ben, Julia, Allison, Madeleine and Cameron).