BLANCHARDVILLE — The Wiscsonsin Wrestling Coaches Association announced its 2023 Hall of Fame class on Thursday, Oct. 5. Former Pecatonica coach Greg Trosper was among the five inductees. 

Greg was raised on a beef farm west of Oregon with his parents Grayson and Marjorie Trosper, and siblings Janet, John and Ray. He was a 1968 graduate of Oregon High School (OHS). Greg was Oregon’s first State Tournament qualifier in 1967. At OHS, Greg was coached in wrestling by current Hall of Fame (HOF) member Fred Lehrke, current football HOF member Cal Callaway, and John Bauman, brother of current HOF member Al Bauman. 

Greg attended UW-Whitewater, wrestling for one year under legendary coach Willie Myers. A series of knee injuries cut short his college career, but during his senior year, with the assistance of Coach Myers and Father Halter, Greg was named head wrestling coach at St. Joseph Prep Academy in Edgerton. With his B.S.E. degree in hand, Greg continued his coaching career at Pecatonica High School from 1974 to 1980, teaching Secondary Social Studies and Physical Education.

Greg’s Pecatonica teams won five Stateline League titles with a record of 43-1-1. His 1979-1980 team placed 4th in the Class C State Championship. Greg had nine State Qualifiers, with four place winners, including Pecatonica’s first State Champion in future Wisconsin Badger wrestler Gene Spellman. 

Overall in his 14-year career, Greg coached 51 Conference Champions and 33 State Qualifiers, with seven wrestlers crowned State Champions and 10 wrestlers becoming place winners. His overall team dual record is 124-40-2, for an impressive .756 winning percentage, while wrestling the top teams throughout Wisconsin. Greg coached a State Champion wrestler in all three Wisconsin High School Divisions. He may be the only coach in Wisconsin coaching history to have that distinction.

In addition to coaching high school, Greg was a certified WIAA official and actively involved with spring and summer programs. He hosted and participated in several tournaments and clinics as an active member of USA Wrestling, USWF, AAU, Wrestlers of Wisconsin (WOW), and the WWCA. Greg was also active in cultural wrestling exchanges. He coached the 1979 and 1980 Wisconsin All-Star teams competing against teams from Iowa. He was the 1983 Team Leader/Coach of a USA All-Star team in a wrestling exchange program competing throughout Canada. Greg worked as a clinician for many years in coaches’ clinics and wrestling schools such as the Warhawk Wrestling Camp at UW Whitewater. He also served as an Appointed Member of the WIAA Wrestling Coaches Advisory Committee from 1977 to 1979, during the transition between a single class State Tournament to the current 3-division system.

In his own words, “Wrestling has always been an integral part of my life.” The numerous times the sport comes up in conversations and the connections to other people is uncanny and never ending. For example, two of his assistant coaches, Mark Parrott and Mike Lennon, were state qualifiers in high school. Two of his state champions, Bill Tourdot and Tim McMillen, have sons who became state champions. Coach Trosper’s own son, Jared, was a state place winner at Heavyweight in 1997 for Baraboo High School.

Greg currently resides outside of Baraboo. He is retired and does some farming and part-time driving for FedEx.