Mark Adkins, Wartburg Sports Information
WAVERLY (IOWA) “Wartburg College wrestling coach Jim Miller is set for induction into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa Saturday, April 23. The ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. at the Hall of Fame’s museum in Newton.
Miller is part of the fourth class to go into the “Hall”. He joins former Lehigh University coach Gerald Leeman, former Franklin and Marshall (Pa.) and Kent State University coach Ron Gray, former Michigan State University national champion Dale Anderson, former Boston University head coach Carl Adams, current University of Northern Iowa head coach Brad Penrith, former University of Iowa standout Mark Ironside, former East Waterloo High School coach Dave Natvig and former Iowa State University standout Chris Taylor In the Induction class.
“It’s pretty cool when you take a look at who else is going in this weekend,” Miller said of the honor. “I consider is a great reward when I see my former high school coach, Dave Natvig, and the great Chris Taylor on the list.
“This Hall of Fame speaks a lot about people who have made an impact on the sport from the state of Iowa,” he added.
Miller’s success, since he arrived at Wartburg in 1991, is well chronicled. His teams have compiled a 250-29-1 dual meet record, won 13 Iowa Conference championships and placed first or second in the nation 11 of the past 13 years.
He was named Division III Rookie Coach of the Year and National Rookie Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News in 1992 and Division III Coach of the Year in 1993, 1996,1999 and 2003. He also won Coach-of-the-Year laurels in the Iowa Conference in 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003 and was third runner-up in 1996. Miller was the recipient of the prestigious Dan Gable all-division Coach of the Year award in 2004 as selected by W.I.N. magazine. Wrestling USA magazine tabbed him Iowa’s Man of the Year in 2003.
“Our program has really grown,” Miller said of Wartburg’s success. “We don’t ever want to just sit back and take a look and what we have done, though. You have to keep pushing forward and getting better.
“I have to admit, from time-to-time, when we’re standing for the national anthem and I look up and see those banners in Knights Gymnasium denoting our national and conference success, it does send a shiver up my spine,” he added.
Miller also gained honors as a wrestler by being a two-time NCAA champion in Division II and a two-time All-American in Division I, placing second and fourth, all at the University of Northern Iowa.
For more information, contact Mark Adkins, sports information director, at 319-352-8208, or [email protected].
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