Long-time former Head Coach of the Missouri Valley College men’s wrestling program, and current Athletic Director Mike Machholz has been formally inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Friday, July 26, in Jacksonville, Florida.

Machholz’s induction came during the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association annual convention for his 30 years of work building and leading the men’s wrestling program at Missouri Valley. During his tenure, the program won three team National championships, finished as National runner-up four times, won 11 regional championships, produced 17 individual National champions, 37 National finalists, 168 All-Americans and compiled a duals record of 224-115-2. Machholz was a three-time National Coach of the Year award winner in the NAIA and was a nine-time Regional Coach of the Year.

Machholz says he is honored to have been inducted.

Machholz credits many people for his success at MVC, including his family, former MVC President Bonnie Humphrey, former Athletic Director Tom Fifer, as well as his assistants in the program.

Since his coaching retirement, Machholz has been recognized by multiple organizations for his championship coaching career. In October of 2022, he was inducted into the Missouri Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and in February of 2023 he and his 1996-05 teams were both inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Machholz becomes the seventh person associated with Missouri Valley College to earn induction into the NAIA Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include Volney C. Ashford in 1959, Warren Harris in 1966, Hugh Dunn in 1972, Ken Gibler in 1989, Ron Hall in 2012, and Bobby Lashley in 2023.

Photo courtesy of Missouri Valley College