A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Andy Noel graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in history. He received his master's degree in counseling and guidance from Colgate University in 1973.

Andy competed in varsity wrestling for four years at Franklin and Marshall under Coach Mickey Stewart. He received the Charles Mayer Award as outstanding wrestler his senior year and finished second in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament to Navy's Lloyd Keaser, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

He served as assistant wrestling coach at Colgate University in 1972-73 and at Franklin and Marshall 1973-1974.

He became head wrestling coach at Cornell University in 1974 and continued in that role until 1988, when he retired from coaching to assume responsibilities as the Director of Athletics and Physical Education at Cornell.

Noel's teams won four Ivy League titles and finished second four times. He coached All-Americans Gene Nighman, Patrick Waters and Patrick Welch, a two-time Eastern Champion.

He also served on the NCAA Rules Committee and worked hard on other national committees to promote and sustain wrestling .

Since becoming athletic director, Cornell's teams have won 74 Ivy League team titles and 17 National Championships. In 2005-06, Cornell teams captured a record nine Ivy League titles.

In 2011-2012, 11 student athletes were named to all-academic all-district teams, with three earning academic All-American honors, bringing Cornell's nine year total to 23, among the most of any school in the country.

Noel has continued to hire top coaches and has successfully upgraded the athletic facilities, including building the Friedmen Wrestling Center.

With Rob Koll at the helm, Cornell's wrestling program has won 11 consecutive Ivy League championships, EIWA championships and placed in the top five teams at the NCAA Tournaments, including two second-place finishes the last four years led by four-time NCAA Champion Kyle Dake.

Andy Noel has been perhaps the biggest supporter of Big Red wrestling.

For his many years of dedication to the sport of wrestling, the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is pleased to recognize the accomplishments of Andy Noel by presenting him the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award.