The 2019 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Saturday, Sept. 21, at 10 a.m. in the McLeod Center on the UNI campus. In addition, the Hall of Fame class will also be presented at halftime of the football game as the UNI Panthers host Idaho State later that day at 4 p.m. in the UNI-Dome.
Don Parker
Don Parker was a two-time NCAA Division II national champion at 177 pounds for Northern Iowa, winning back-to-back titles in 1966 and 1967. In addition, Parker was a three-time NCAA All-American. He won a pair of NCC (North Central Conference) titles and was named the NCC Outstanding Wrestler for the 1966 season. Parker launched his collegiate coaching career at Upper Iowa University from 1973-1977 before moving on to University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he coached for 32 seasons where he coached 12 All-Americans and 18 conference champions before retiring in 2007. Despite being paralyzed in a hunting accident in 1998, he continued to coach for another 10 seasons. In addition to being welcomed into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame this fall, Parker has already been inducted into the D2 Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame at the Dan Gable National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa.
Dr. Justin Greenlee
Recipient of UNI's Merlin Taylor Academic Hall of Fame Award for 2019, Dr. Justin Greenlee was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American and a two-time NCAA tournament finalist in his last two years as heavyweight wrestler at the University of Northern Iowa. Greenlee also ranks third in victories in school history. In addition, Greenlee earned a gold medal at the 1993 Pan America Games. He is a member of the Glen Brand Hall of Fame and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Beyond wrestling, Justin Greenlee graduated Cum Laude from UNI with a B.S. in biology and a minor in chemistry. He earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1999 from Iowa State and a Ph.D. in veterinary pathology. Greenlee is a research veterinary pathologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Virus and Prion Research Unit at the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa.
In addition to Parker and Greenlee, other 2019 UNI Athletics Hall of Fame honorees include the 2009-10 men's basketball Sweet-16 team, former women's basketball coach Tony DiCecco, football great Eddie Berlin, women's basketball player and national championship coach Kris Huffman, and outstanding track athlete Diana Leftridge. What's more, longtime Panther supporter and Panther Scholarship Club
Executive Committee Member Stan Lorenz will be honored with the Dr. Jitu Kothari Meritorious Service Award.
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