JOHNSTON, Iowa (KWWL) -- More than four decades later Chuck Yagla is still proud of his time as a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team.
"It's still a great memory for me because it's my biggest accomplishment ever," says the former Iowa wrestling great.
It was an accomplishment he worked his tail off to achieve. At 26 years old the Waterloo native and two-time NCAA champion for the Hawkeyes rolled through Olympic qualifying ready for his opportunity to chase gold. It was an opportunity that never came.
"Everyone was like what?" he recalls of the shock of the moment.
In 1980, the United States, under President Jimmy Carter, went ahead with a boycott of the Moscow games due to the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan costing Yagla and hundreds of other United States athletes their chance at