Few wrestlers were more successful than Barry Davis on the collegiate level. He placed every year he competed and was a three time national champion. In between his junior and senior year he competed in the 1984 Olympics in LA and won the silver medal in freestyle. Furthermore he was part of the legendary Iowa Hawkeye teams that won 9 straight team titles.

In 1992, after six years of being an assistant at the University of Iowa, Coach Davis took the head coaching position at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.