By Matt Haile —
The University of Wisconsin–Stout is proud to have three alumni inducted into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
The alumni inducted are Stout women’s swimmer Wendy Heineke, men’s basketball coach Dwain Mintz and wrestler John Peterson.
Heineke was a member of the Stout women’s swim team from 1986-1989. In her tenure, Heineke won four National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics individual national titles and 23 NAIA All-American awards. The decorated swimmer recorded 12 WIAC first-place finishes and had her name next to 14 school records and three conference records. Heineke was also selected to the WIAC Women’s Swimming & Diving All-Time team in 2012.
Dwain Mintz coached the Stout’s men’s basketball team for 27 years (1962-1989). Mintz finished with a 385-361 record here at Stout and led the squad to 3 Wisconsin School Athletic Conference titles. Mintz’s 385 wins put him at fourth on the conference’s all-time list.
Mintz left a great impact on his players, helping 21 Blue Devils claim All-WSAC first team recognition. Mintz was a dual-sport coach; he also coached the Blue Devils men’s baseball team from 1963-1968.
John Peterson was a member of the Stout wrestling program from 1968-1971. In this time, Peterson was able to gather three WSUC titles alongside two NAIA All-American honors. Peterson won a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in wrestling 82kg freestyle and won silver in 82kg freestyle in the 1972 Olympic Games.
Peterson’s dominance and contributions to the WIAC resulted in the WIAC Wrestler of the Meet Award being named in his honor. John Peterson was also selected for the WIAC All-Time Wrestling team in 2012.
The Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Aug. 1, 2015 at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville.