In January 1975, he received a wrestling scholarship to
Chicago State University. By 1976, he placed second in the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District #20 at 158 lbs and thus qualified for the
NAIA National Wrestling Championships in
Edinboro, Pennsylvania, at
Edinboro University. In August 1976, Hernandez transferred to the
University of Maine at Presque Isle and competed in the
Acadia University Nova Scotia Open in November 1977. In January 1979, while being in university, he competed in and won first place at the
University of New Brunswick International Open Championships in
Fredericton, New Brunswick, and the
USA Wrestling Maine State Freestyle Wrestling Championships. Hernandez enlisted in the
United States Army in October 1981. In November 1982, he won the
Fort Riley, Kansas Post Freestyle Wrestling Championship in the 158 lbs weight class. In January 1983, Hernandez was selected for the All-Army National Wrestling team at
Ft. Bliss,
Texas. Hernandez won a Bronze medal at the
Texas Tech Wrestling Invitational, where the Army National Team won the team title. In November 1983, he won his second Ft. Riley Post Wrestling Championship in the 158 lbs weight class. He was selected as the "Outstanding Wrestler" of the tournament. In April 1984, Hernandez participated in the US Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Trials. In April 1985, he won the USA Wrestling
Vermont State Freestyle Championships in the 163 lbs weight class and in April 1986, he won the USA Wrestling Massachusetts State Freestyle Wrestling Championships in the 180 lbs weight class. In July 1986, he reached the finals in the
Bay State Games Freestyle Wrestling competition. He won the AAU National Greco-Roman Masters Championships and the Greco-Roman Masters All-Around Championship and placed 4th in the Greco-Roman Open. In July 1991, Hernandez won two Gold Medals at the 1991 AAU National Masters Free-Style Wrestling Championships in
Battle Creek, Michigan. He won the 35-39 age group and the Masters All-Round Championships and was selected for the "Most Outstanding Wrestler Award" of the tournament. In 1995, he took fifth place as a member of the USA Wrestling National Veterans Team at the
Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées World Veterans Freestyle Wrestling Championships held in
Sofia, Bulgaria. At age 43, Hernandez won three Gold medals, two Silvers, and two Bronzes at the Grand National AAU Wrestling Championships. He participated in Sambo, Greco-Roman, and Freestyle wrestling contests at the 3-day event in 1997, held at
Rabobank Arena in
Bakersfield, California. In 1999, he won the Fédération Internationale Amateur de Sambo Pan-American Gold and Bronze medals in the 180 lbs weight class. Hernandez competed as a member of the
USMC National Sambo Team, which won the US National Sambo Team Championships held at
Marine Corps Base Quantico in
Quantico, Virginia, in 1999. In April 2000, Hernandez won the XXV National AAU Sambo Championships held at
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in
Orlando, Florida, and the
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Sambo Pan-American Silver medal. In July 2000, Hernandez, aged 46, won the middleweight (163 pounds) Gold medal in the 45-49 age group at the Federation International Association
Sambo World Championships held at the
Hara Arena in
Dayton, Ohio. He also earned the Silver medal in the Masters of the Sport category, which combines champions from all masters' age groups, and a Bronze medal in the open division. He was selected to represent the US at the World Cup of Sombo in
Nice, France. In November 2000, Hernandez led the
United States to a second-place finish at the FIAS World Cup of Sambo Wrestling held in Nice, France, and won a silver medal. In November 2001, Hernandez was selected to represent the United States at the FIAS World Cup of Sambo held in Nice, where he took 5th place. In May 2003, he won 2 gold medals at the 6th World
AAU Iron Man Wrestling Championships in the Open and Masters divisions in
Knoxville, Tennessee. Between 1987 and 2003, Hernandez reportedly received AAU All-American honors on 31 occasions for his accomplishments in wrestling. In May 2015, Hernandez got double gold in Greco-Roman Wrestling and Olympic Freestyle at the USA Wrestling Veterans National Championships at the U.S. Open at the
South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa,
Las Vegas, Nevada. Earlier that year, he was crowned at the 2015 Cliff Keen USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals in the Veterans divisions, held at the
UNIDome on the campus of the
University of Northern Iowa in
Cedar Falls. On September 3, 2016, Hernandez won the NAGA Championships of Ireland in the Executive Expert Heavyweight divisions of both GI and No-Gi competitions, and earned a silver medal in the Directors division of the No-Gi competition. The Championships were held at the University Sports Complex of
Dublin City University in
Dublin,
Ireland. On October 20–21, 2018, Hernandez was selected by USA Sambo Inc. to represent the US at the World Masters Sambo Championships at the
Stade Mohamed V,
Casablanca,
Morocco. Competing in the 60-64 age group in the +100 kg weight class, Hernandez defeated Sakhtan Bekpeiisuly of
Kazakhstan 5-3 for the Bronze medal. == Honors and awards ==