Rodney SMITH

Rodney Smith wrestled lightweight Greco-Roman at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 1992 at Barcelona. Smith wanted to attend either Springfield College or Western New England University, but after being rejected by Springfield, he decided to join the US Marines. Two days before reporting to boot camp, he was accepted by Western New England and the Marines allowed him to attend college and defer his military obligation.

Smith joined the US Army after his college graduation in 1988 and was stationed in Atlanta, where he was in the US Army World Class Athlete Program. He also took graduate courses there in journalism at Georgia State University. Smith spent 10 years in the Army and then coached their wrestling program in Colorado Springs. He later returned to his home state of Massachusetts and became a teacher at the Hampden Charter School of Science in Chicopee, where he also coached wrestling.