Steiner twins honored with North Dakota's Rough Rider Award

Wrestling twins Terry and Troy Steiner, NCAA champions at Iowa and longtime coaches, received the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award on Oct. 1, 2026.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong presented the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award to twin brothers Terry and Troy Steiner during a ceremony at the state Capitol on Oct. 1, 2026. The honor recognized their accomplishments as wrestlers and roughly four decades spent coaching and promoting the sport. More than 300 guests filled Memorial Hall for the event.

The twins grew up in Bismarck and built their reputations early at Bismarck Century High School. Troy captured three individual state championships in three different weight classes from 1986 through 1988, and Terry added consecutive titles in 1987 and 1988 across two weight classes.

The two then wrestled at the University of Iowa, where Troy earned All-America honors four times and Terry three. Each closed his college career with an individual NCAA championship, Troy in 1992 and Terry in 1993.

Both brothers later trained with the U.S. National Team. Troy placed third at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1992 and again in 1996.

Coaching followed competition. Troy has worked on Division I staffs at Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon State and Fresno State, and currently heads the Gopher Wrestling Club in Minneapolis. Terry took over the U.S. women's national wrestling team in 2002, and the governor's office credited his leadership with turning the program into one of the country's fastest-growing women's sports.

In his remarks, Troy credited the people of the state, rather than the state itself, with instilling the twins' work ethic, pointing to farmers, ranchers, teachers, coaches and parents as the examples who showed them how to persevere and look out for their neighbors. He said those lessons eventually became part of who they are. He also announced the launch of the Steiner Rough Rider Foundation, intended to create opportunities for a new generation of young North Dakotans, with a mission of helping under-resourced youth in the state. The initiative reflects a request from the brothers' late father that they give back.

Terry used his turn at the podium to thank his family, friends and hometown community, saying the twins were grateful to join a group of North Dakotans whose accomplishments have made the state proud. Regardless of where wrestling took them, he added, North Dakota stayed their home.

Armstrong told the audience that the brothers' contributions to wrestling as coaches and ambassadors go beyond measurement and have drawn countless people into the sport. He also said no one in the United States has done more to advance women's wrestling than Terry, and he affirmed he would defend the selection without hesitation because the twins have earned recognition for their home state, their country and the world at large.

The Steiners became the 51st and 52nd recipients of the Rough Rider Award, which was created in 1961 and honors current and former North Dakotans who achieve national recognition in their fields.