Takedown Report

Championship Wrestling Coaches – NJCAA

The first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Wrestling Championships were held in 1960.  In the 60 years since there have been 64 championship teams.  In four years two teams tied for the title.  Previous articles discussed the championship coaches in the NCAA Divisions (D-I),  (D-II), and (D-III) levels and then to complete four-year college and university programs the NAIA.

North Idaho College has the top coach in John Owen who led his teams to eight championships.  North Idaho also has the most team championships with 14.  The first two were in the mid-1970s with Les Hogan as the head coach.  Then Pat Whitcomb coached four more championship teams after Owen. 

Tied for 2^nd are three coaches with six titles each.  Rex Branum won his first two team titles with Lincoln College before moving west to Lassen College in California.  At Lassen his teams won four consecutive championships in the mid-1990s.  Two active coaches also have six titles.  Luke Moffitt of Iowa Central and Joe Renfro of Northeastern Oklahoma A & M have won 12 of the last 15 championship titles.  Renfro won his first three with Labette Community College in Kansas before stepping over the state line into Oklahoma to win the next three titles.  Moffitt and Renfro are both looking to pass Owen for the top spot in the next decade. 

Earl Linn led Lamar Jr. College to five titles in the early 1960s and sits in 5^th place with his early success.  Pat Whitcomb of North Idaho has four titles for 6^th place.    Bill Lanham kept the titles in Colorado with three championships for Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado in the mid-1960s.  Lanham is in a tie for 7^th place with two other coaches, each with three championship titles.  Northeastern has recently restarted their wrestling program after a lapse of over 30 years.   Art Kraft coached Triton Community College in Illinois to three titles in a span from 1977-1984.  He also led his teams to over 260 dual meet wins and he ranks 12^th in that among junior college coaches.  Mark Leen won three for Garden City Community College in Kansas in the early 1990s.

Four coaches are tied for 10^th place with a pair of titles each.  Ron Eastin led Phoenix College of Arizona to two consecutive titles in the late 1960s.  Hogan won his pair of titles with North Idaho in the mid 1970s.  Then Robert Carlson led Lakeland Community College in Ohio to their only titles at the end of the 1970s.  Defending national champion coach Josh Rhoden brought Clackamas Community College in Oregon a second title in this decade.

Eleven other coaches that won a title for their school are tied for 18^th place and are listed below.  The coaches that have guided their teams to National Championships are commendable and worth recognition.  Our next coaches’ list will look at how all coaches of championship wrestling teams across all national collegiate divisions.  After that the number of dual meets won will be the focus of the next series of articles.

(I) = school is now a four year college or University
(cl) = the school has closed
(t) = teams tied for the title
 ** = school no longer has a team
  # = active coach
Championships by school 1^st ; North Idaho College ………14   2^nd ; Iowa Central Comm. College …….8,
3rd ; Lamar Jr. College (Col.) ….5,   4^th ; Lassen College ……… 4
5^th;(tie) Clackamas Comm. Coll. (Ore.), Garden City Comm. Coll. (Ks.), Labette Com. Col. (Ks.), Northeastern Jr. Coll. (Col.), Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. & Triton Jr. Coll. (Ill.)… 3
11^th ;(tie) Lakeland Comm. Coll. (Ohio), Lincoln College (Ill.) & Phoenix Coll. (Ariz.) …… 2
14^th ; (tie) 9 colleges tied with 1 championship title each.

All-Time Individual Champs (by school):    1st. North Idaho Jr. Coll. … (52),  
2nd. Iowa Central Comm. Coll. … (50),                    3rd. Lamar Comm. Coll. … (26), 
4th. Clackamas Comm. Coll…. (22),                          5th. Lassen Jr. College ….(21),                     
6^th (tie) Colby Comm. Coll. & Lincoln Coll … (17),  8th.Phoenix College … (16),
9^th.(tie) Garden City C.C., Northwest Wyoming College, & Triton C.C. … (15),
12^th. North Iowa Area C.C. ..(14),                              13^th  Nassau Comm. Coll. … (13),  
14^th.(tie) Joliet Jr. Coll., Northeastern Oklahoma A&M & Ricks College …  (12), 
17^th.(tie) Labette Comm. Coll., Mesa Comm. Coll. & Muskegon Comm. Coll. … (11),   20^th.William Rainey Harper Coll. ….  (10),  
21^st.(tie) Bismarck State & Cuyahoga-West Comm.Coll….. (9),
23rd.(tie) Grand Rapids C.C., Neosho C.C., Rochester C.C.& Worthington Comm. Coll…. (8)
27th.(tie)  Ellsworth C.C., Gloucester C.C., Lakeland C.C., St. Louis/Meramec … (7)
31^st. (tie) Middlesex C.C., SUNY-Delhi A&T C.C. & Trinadad St. Jr. Coll. …  (6)
34^th. (tie) Niagara County C.C. & Northern Oklahoma Jr. College … (5)
36^th. (tie) Iowa Lakes C.C., Northeast, Ridgewater Coll.(Willmar), SUNY-Farmingdale, SUNY Morrisville A&T, Waldorf Coll., and Western Wyoming College … (4)
43^rd. (tie) 11 colleges with 3 champions each.
54^th. (tie) 14 colleges with 2 champions each.
68^th. (tie) 31 colleges with 1 champion each.

We welcome input about college wrestling history.  We are compiling a historical record of each year a college has had a wrestling team, their dual meet win-loss record and the name of the head coaches.   

November 5, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized