Jim Smith
Honored in 1999

Edmonds, Washington

Jim Smith was a high school coach in Oregon for seven years before moving to Western Washington State College for a year during the 1965-66 season, and then served as head coach at the University of Washington from 1966 to 1973. In his eight years as a coach at Washington colleges, his teams combined for a 105-24-0 dual meet record, along with a 88-18-3 record as a coach at Clackamas and Madison high schools in Oregon. Smith was selected as the NAIA Rookie Coach of the Year in 1965 while at WWSC, and was again the NCAA National Rookie Coach of the Year in 1966 at the University of Washington. He was appointed to the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee in 1969 and served until 1973. The 1972 NCAA Wrestling Championships were held at the UW, with Jim Smith as tournament director.

In his collegiate coaching years, Jim Smith coached 15 All Americans and the only two wrestling NCAA Champions from a Washington college (Larry Owings and Bill Murdock). His 1971 team, ranked #3 in the nation at the time, defeated #1 ranked Iowa State (which hadn't lost a match in three years) by a score of 16-15 in front of 8100 fans in the UW fieldhouse. His most famous wrestler, Larry Owings defeated Dan Gable in the 1970 NCAA finals, handing Gable his only loss. Smith was the coach of the East-West Collegiate All Star team in 1972. His work as a promoter was evident as he brought the 1972 NCAA championships to Seattle and helped start the Washington High School Wrestling Cultural Exchange Program in 1966 along with several current Hall of Fame inductees.

Following his retirement from coaching, Smith was the top real estate agent in the North Seattle/Edmonds area from 1977-1981, and was awarded the Builder/Developer Award for Condominiums and Apartments in 1987 and 1989. In 1978 Jim won the World Sailing title representing the United States, and won the 1993 World Senior Racquetball Title. He served as the Commissioner of Wrestling for the 1990 Goodwill Games held in Seattle.

Nominated in 1999 by Lee Anderson, Ferndale HS and Randy Tomaras