Jim Zalesky GARY ABBOTT’S MATSIDE CHAT WITH...
Jim Zalesky has found success at every level of wrestling. A three-time NCAA champion at the University of Iowa and Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAAs his senior year, Zalesky ended his college career with 89 straight wins. Every Iowa team he wrestled on won the NCAA team title. He wrestled freestyle for an Olympic cycle, competing in one of the toughest weight classes in American history. His coaching career began with assistant stints at Minnesota
and Iowa, and he took over the Iowa program as head coach after the retirement of the legendary Dan Gable. During his nine years leading the Hawkeyes, the team won three NCAA titles and was second twice. After being let go at Iowa, Zalesky took over the Oregon State program and has built the Beavers into a top program in the Pac-12 and on the national level. We visited with Coach Zalesky a few days before the start of the 2014-15 NCAA season.
youth?
USA Wrestler: How did you get involved in the sport as a Zalesky: My dad was a basketball player. We spent about 40
hours of week on the driveway shooting baskets. I grew up thinking I’d be a baskeball player. In eighth grade, my brother Lenny, who is two years older than me, went out for wrestling. When he went out for wrestling, I got interested in the sport and went out for wrestling. I was in seventh grade. With wrestling, it’s either for you or not. I knew it was the sport for me.
USA Wrestler: What do you consider the highlights of your
high school career, and how did that prepare you for success in college?
Zalesky: I went to Cedar Rapids Prairie High School. My jun-
ior high and high school coach had the same philosophy. You worked hard. We had a good tradition. Ron James was my high school coach. When he stepped in, he upped the goals. We were a top 10 team a lot at states, but he upped the goals to try to win the state tournament. My senior year, we won the state tournament, the first state championships my high school won. I was a two-time state champion. That got me on the radar. I real- ly got on the radar for colleges when I wrestled in the summer. I placed in Junior Nationals. That was a big step for me.
USA Wrestler: Why did you choose the University of Iowa to
wrestle for Dan Gable? What made it the best place for you? Zalesky: My brother, Lenny, was there, for one. That was a
big influence. I always followed his footsteps. They had the same philosophy as my high school coach about working hard. Going to Iowa was all about putting the time in to be your best.
USA Wrestler: The Iowa teams you wrestled for won all four
NCAA team titles and had stars like Barry Davis and the Banach brothers on them? How did that environment make you and your teammates better? Zalesky: You try to surround yourself with guys who have the
same goals. A lot of guys on that team had the goal to win the NCAAs, and look beyond the NCAAs and try to make the World or Olympic team. It brought your level of wrestling up. You had
24 USA Wrestler
Coach Jim Zalesky led the Iowa Hawkeyes to three NCAA team titles before building a strong program at Oregon State University. Tony Rotundo photo.
to go into that room ready to wrestle every day. When I went in, they won two titles under Kurdelmeier, and Gable started win- ning a few. As we kept winning, we realized that we were part of something special.
USA Wrestler: You won three NCAA titles for Iowa. Was it
more difficult winning it for the first time, or did it become more challenging trying to repeat? Zalesky: They are both different challenges. Getting that first
one is really difficult, getting over that hump. That’s hard. Once you win, everybody is shooting for you. That is real different. Before, you are gunning for someone, then everybody is gun- ning for you. You have to know how to handle both of those sit- uations. I was competitive and had some breaks. There were a lot of close matches there which I had to pull out. It was one of those things that you took it match to match, and you had to be ready for that next match.
USA Wrestler: What event or match most stands out in your
mind from college that you take the most pride in? Zalesky: It was that first NCAA championship I won. Ricky Stewart was a two-time NCAA champion. Winning that weight
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