Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling and Northern Michigan University are pleased to announce the hiring of Jim Gruenwald of Colorado Springs, Colo. to serve as the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC) Assistant Greco-Roman Wrestling Coach.
Gruenwald will work with USOEC Head Greco-Roman Wrestling Coach Ivan Ivanov to coach the men’s Greco-Roman wrestlers who participate in the USOEC Greco-Roman Wrestling Resident Program at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich.
This program provides wrestlers with the opportunity to train full-time in Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling at an elite level, while receiving their college education.
In addition to working with the USOEC resident athletes and team, Gruenwald will also become a valuable member of USA Wrestling’s professional National Greco-Roman coaching staff, helping to build the United States Greco-Roman team into one of the world’s best programs.
Gruenwald was a two-time Olympic team member in Greco-Roman wrestling and represented the United States in numerous major international competitions during his successful competitive career.
“We are very proud of Jim Gruenwald and his accomplishments,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are confident he will contribute considerably to a very important program we have established at Northern Michigan.”
“We are very excited that Jim Gruenwald has accepted the position of assistant coach at the USOEC program at Northern Michigan,” said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. “I believe with his background and experience, he is going to be a perfect fit for Ivan Ivanov and his strengths and skills. Together, these two coaches will continue to build the program to a whole nother level.”
Gruenwald placed sixth at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, competing at 58 kg/127.75 pounds. He also competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, placing 10th at the 60 kg/132 lbs division.
He also competed in three World Championships for the United States, placing fourth in the 2003 World Championships, eighth in the 2002 World Championships and 10th in the 2001 World Championships.
Starting in 1993, Gruenwald was a member of the U.S. Olympic Training Center Greco-Roman Resident Team, training full-time in Colorado Springs, Colo. He became one of the nation’s best Greco-Roman athletes under the guidance of the national coaching staff at the USOTC program
Gruenwald won the U.S. Nationals title in Greco-Roman in 2002 and 2004, and was a seven-time U.S. Nationals runner-up. He was also fourth in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Among his major international achievements were a gold medal at the 2003 World Cup and a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games. Gruenwald has won major international competitions held in Poland, Hungary, Sweden and the United States. He won gold medals at the 1998 and 2003 Pan American Championships.
He attended Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin, where he was coached by 1972 Olympic champion Ben Peterson. Gruenwald was a three-time National Christian College champion for Maranatha, and a one-time runner-up. He graduated with a degree in Secondary Education. He is originally from Greendale, Wis., where he was a state champion and two-time state runner-up for Greendale High School.
Gruenwald has worked many years as a math teacher at Hilltop Baptist High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. He and his wife, Rachel, have one son, Adin, and one daughter, Arwyn and another on the way.
“I am excited. I believe I can be a benefit to the program,” said Gruenwald. “The program is outstanding. We are getting top young Greco-Roman wrestlers right out of high school. We are developing Greco-Roman wrestlers at a young age, not after they are done with college. I didn’t have this chance, and I didn’t make my first World team until I was 30. They have an opportunity I did not have. This is a chance for them to improve while they are young, and to win medals for the United States at the World Championships and the Olympics.”
“When we get an athlete for three or four years, there is no reason why they can’t compete with the best in our nation, as well as the best in the world. We have to develop respect with the athletes and build a program that can produce World and Olympic medalists. Our job is to get these wrestlers to believe in the program and to have respect for our system,” said Gruenwald.
The USOEC Greco-Roman program had an exceptional year in 2004-05, with Harry Lester becoming the first USOEC wrestler to win the U.S. Nationals and the World Team Trials. Four members of the USOEC team qualified for 2005-06 Greco-Roman Team USA.
In February, 1989, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Northern Michigan as the nation’s only United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC). The USOEC’s main focus is the resident athlete training program, where athletes actively train for the Olympic Games. Generally, athletes in this program must be nationally ranked and also approved by their National Governing Body (NGB), the USOEC, and NMU. The USOEC also has resident athlete training programs in boxing, short track speedskating, Greco-Roman wrestling.
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