Daryl Dieterle witnessed something few, if any, other people have seen.

He saw Mike Mena cry on a wrestling mat, and they weren’t tears of joy.

Mena was about 7 years old at the time, and competing in the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state tournament. Dieterle was his coach, and Mena found himself trailing after one period of a bout.

“I can still remember the mat in DeKalb, and Mike starts crying because he’s behind,” Dieterle said on Tuesday afternoon in Morrison, where the pair were working a youth wrestling camp. “I’m telling him, ‘Mike, it’s OK, it’s only the first period. You’re not losing yet.’ The crying thing was OK because it means you care, and you want to win. It’s that desire that got him to where he ended up.”

Where he ended up was a legendary career in wrestling that continues to this day, as an assistant coach at the University of Dubuque. On May 30 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Mena and his teammates from the 1997 Iowa wrestling team were part of the 2015 Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame class.

This hall of fame was established in 2002 to honor those who made an impact on wrestling at the state or national level. It honors native Iowans, or those who achieved fame wrestling or coaching at an Iowa school.

“I felt very blessed to be a part of that team, and to be able to reunite with them and have a little bit of a reunion as well, I was very excited about that,” Mena said. “It definitely was an honor, and I feel very humbled by the recognition.”

Mena, 41, was a co-captain of the 1997 Hawkeyes, along with Joe Williams and Lincoln McIlravy, and the team captured the 17th national championship in the program’s storied history. Iowa scored 170 points in the NCAA finals, still a record for most points accumulated.

“There was just a lot of maturity and leadership,” Mena said, “and there was a nice infusion of guys that had maturity, but hadn’t quite been in there, but they got their shot too. I think all that pieced together, and it culminated in an outstanding lineup.”

Making the title even more sweet for Mena and his teammates was it sent legendary coach Dan Gable out on a high note. Gable was in and out of the hospital that season with a number of issues, including hip replacement surgeries.

“Coach Gable, we knew it was going to be his last season,” Mena said, “so there was more meaning to the season.”

Iowa crowned five individual NCAA champs in 1997, and had eight All-Americans, including Mena, who was a runner-up at 126 pounds. He lost a 3-2 overtime decision to Oklahoma State’s Eric Guerrero in the finals.

Mena was a four-time All-American, having finished seventh, third and fifth his first three seasons. He had a record of 108-24 as a 4-year starter for the Hawkeyes.

After college, Mena remained active on the mat. He was a three-time U.S. freestyle team member, after finishing in the top three at the U.S. World Team Trials in 1999, 2001 and 2003. He was also fifth in the 2000 Olympic trials.

Mena coached at Indiana University for nine seasons before joining the University of Dubuque wrestling staff in 2012. He recruits northern Illinois for the Spartans, and the 2014-15 roster included a host of suburban wrestlers, as well as one, Zach Depuy, from Sterling.

In high school at Newman, Mena posted a 157-0-1 record, and became the first undefeated wrestler in IHSA history. Dakota’s Josh Alber became the second to go unbeaten in his career, in 2014.

As a junior, Mena was tied in a bout by Riverdale’s Joel Stockwell, shortly after Mena had helped the Comets win a state football championship. Mena is one of 14 wrestlers in IHSA history to win four state championships.