THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER

Azarian, a 1962 magna cum laude business administration graduate and an All-American in wrestling earned four letters in football and wrestling. As a nose guard, he helped UW-Whitewater win the Wisconsin State University Conference championship as a freshman. His sophomore year he earned second team all-league honors and he was a first team All-WSUC pick in 1979 and 1980. He was UW-W’s Highest Graded Defensive Player and number one in defensive points accumulated his last two seasons. Azarian still holds the school records for career tackles and defensive points. In his four seasons on the mat, Azarian racked up four winning seasons and more than eighty career victories. He finished second in the WSUC as a sophomore and third as a junior. His sophomore year, when UW-W still belonged to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, he was second team NAIA District 14, and when UW-W switched affiliation to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, he earned All-American honors with a seventh place finish in the 1983 NCAA Division III championship. A 1977 graduate of Racine (WI) Horlick High School, Azarian also stood out in prep football and wrestling. He led the 1976 Horlick football team to second place in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association championship, while earning first team all-conference, all-county and all-state recognition. He was the South Team’s defensive captain in the first high school Shrine football game in 1977. As a wrestler at Horlick, he placed in the WIAA meet both his junior and senior years. After graduation from UW-W, Azarian was an assistant wrestling coach at UW-Parkside for six years (1987-93), and volunteered as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater (1994-96). He still coaches football in the Racine Youth Sports organization and heads the wrestling club for Racine Park Kids. The Racine resident is the business manager for both Sam Azarian Wrecking and Azarian & Sons Marina. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997.