Hall of Fame
Dennis, from Loyal, Wisconsin, has been loyal to the MATC Program since 1969. The silver anniversary of his service to the students and athletes seemed a good time to honor Dennis. He did his undergraduate work in history and physical education at UW-Eau Claire.
Dennis went on to obtain his Master's degree from Colorado State College in Ft. Collins, Colorado with additional studies at the University of Utah and UW-Madison.
At MATC, Dennis was the Wrestling coach for ten years retiring in the 1980-81 season. But you have known it by his activity on behalf of wrestling as the wrestling coordinator and sometimes assistant coach. He was tireless in helping whoever was the coach at MATC. Dennis' dual meet record at MATC was 111-42. His record in the Wisconsin Technical College Conference was a remarkable 47-3. He won three Conference championships and three runner-ups in the history of the league. In the Wisconsin Junior College Athletic Association, Dennis won four championships, two runner-ups, and one third place. He produced four national qualifiers and recruited one national champion in Dan Niebuhr. Dennis coached 38 WTCC individual champs and 27 WJCAA individual champs. During that time, he continued to teach faithfully in physical education and special physical education at MATC. Dennis, who is married to Gayl Ryan, has three children, Vince, Mike and Jill.
A collective quote from Doug Redsten, JoAnn Walker, and Jack Brenegan sums up Dennis' accomplishments, "Dennis has always been a quiet leader, someone who stays in the background and lets other people take credit. He has been an absolute work horse for the wrestling program, for MATC, and especially for the individual student-athlete."
