Your future, our focus
NWC's Jim Zeigler named to NJCAA Hall of Fame
BY DAVID DICKEY
Tribune Sports Editor
Jim Zeigler, Northwest College athletic director and wrestling coach, will be inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association's Hall of Fame during this year's national wrestling tournament in Rochester, Minn. The tournament begins Friday and will conclude Saturday.
Currently in his 16th season as NWC's wrestling coach, Zeigler earned the hall of- fame distinction by coaching a team that for 14 consecutive years has placed in the top 10 at the NJCAA national tournament. This mark is unmatched by any other two-year college in the nation. Claiming the national championship in 2004 didn't hurt either. Nor did five regional championships, nine national team trophies (top-six), and the 2002 All-Academic Championship. Zeigler's 2004 team still
holds the record for most points scored in a national tournament (155.5 points).
During his tenure at Northwest, Zeigler has produced 67 individual All-Americans and nine national champions. He has been voted the NJCAA West Central Zone Coach of the year three times and was named the national coach of the year in 2004. He earned the prestigious NJCAA Wrestling Man of the Year award in 2007.
Zeigler's coaching accolades followed those he earned as a wrestler. A three-time All-American, he started his collegiate career at Labette Community College under the tutelage of Jody Thompson, another hall-of-fame coach. Zeigler matched his 1986 third-place national finish for LCC two years later when he wrestled for the University of Southern Colorado. His USC All American honors include the 1988 third-place finish and a fifth-place effort in 1989.
Before coming to Northwest, Zeigler served three years as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado while completing his master's degree in athletic administration.
According to Harry McGinnis, chair of the NJCAA Wrestling Hall of Fame, Zeigler was a first-ballot inductee. The NJCAA induction ceremony will be held at Rochester Community and Technical College Saturday and just prior to the finals of the 2009 NJCAA National Wrestling Tournament.