Zalesky Named Pac-12 Coach of the Year
Oregon State’s Jim Zalesky has been named the Pacific-12 Conference Wrestling Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season, commissioner Larry Scott announced Thursday.
It’s the fifth such honor for Zalesky, who recently completed his ninth season at OSU by directing the Beavers to a 12-1 record and their fourth consecutive Pac-12 championship. He also earned the award in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
“It’s a reflection of your coaching staff and the job they do. It’s not just one person,” Zalesky said in sharing the credit with assistants Kevin Roberts and Troy Steiner, staffers with Zalesky since he arrived at OSU for the 2006-07 season.
“It’s not just one person. It’s a great honor for our coaching staff.”
Zalesky is now 111-41-2 (.727) at OSU and 238-75-2 (.759) overall in 18 seasons as a head coach. He led the University of Iowa program from 1997-2006.
The Beavers had numerous accomplishments this past season.
· They became the third program in Division I with 1,000 dual-meet wins by defeating Southern Oregon on Nov. 13, 2014.
· They finished 6-0 at home and won 11 consecutive duals before suffering their only loss of the season, at Wyoming.
· Seniors Alex Elder and Joe Latham, redshirt freshmen Cody Crawford and Jack Hathaway and freshman Ronnie Bresser captured Pac-12 individual championships.
· Latham was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet at the Pac-12 championships.
· Seniors Taylor Meeks, Elder, Latham, junior Seth Thomas, redshirt freshmen Crawford and Jack Hathaway and Bresser all advanced to the NCAA tournament.
· Elder, Thomas, juniors Zac Cardwell and Aaron David and sophomore Jared Reis earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors.
“This team really grew a lot from where it was at the beginning of the year, it got a lot better,” Zalesky said. “We made a lot of progress.
“It was a fun team to coach. The guys worked hard, you didn’t have to worry about a lot of situations off the mat. We could concentrate on coaching and making our team better.
“It was a satisfying year. You’re only as good as your last competition; we still want to do better at the NCAA tournament.”
Zalesky has now earned seven conference Coach of the Year awards; he was also honored by the Big Ten in 2000 and 2004 while at Iowa. He was also the National Wrestling Association’s National Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, again with the Hawkeyes, and earned NWCA Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 1992 and 1997.
The team’s annual postseason awards banquet is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, at the Club Level of Reser Stadium. Tickets are $28 for adults and $10 for ages 6-12. The social hour begins at 5 p.m.; dinner is at 6 p.m.
Reservations are available through April 18. Checks should be made out to the FALL Fan Club and sent to Brandon Perkins, 4724 Whitman Circle NE, Salem OR 97305.
For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, follow the club’s official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling.
