The Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association (MWCA) recently held its 2020-21 awards ceremony, and long-time Becker High School Wrestling coach Jeff Zimmer was honored at the banquet with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

“This was a well deserved award for Coach Zimmer and it was an honor coaching with him for the last 17 years,” said Matt Aho, who served as co-coach with Zimmer before both resigned at the end of last season. “He was a great mentor and co-coach. Jeff was a huge part of the strong traditions and successes of the Bulldog wrestling teams.”

Early Years

Zimmer was a stellar high school athlete in Foley, where he participated as a three sport athlete in football, wrestling and baseball. On the gridiron, Zimmer was a three year letter winner who earned MVP and All-conference honors and served as a team captain. He was just as gifted on the baseball field, earning another captain’s pin and leading the team in hitting his senior year when he was named All-conference.

On the wrestling mat, Jeff lettered one year, as injuries derailed his Sophomore and Junior seasons. He was, however, part of the 1985 Falcon team that won the State Consolation Championship.  

Zimmer said he was inspired by several of his high school coaches, including Lee Olson in football and Paul Seaton in baseball, and decided on pursuing a career in education and coaching.

“Mike Rybak, Tom Keating, and Lyie Freudenberg were also outstanding role models in my development as a wrestler and as a person,” added Zimmer.

Because of the guidance and caring of these people, Jeff decided to pursue education and coaching, attending SCSU to become an Industrial Technology teacher.

Coaching

Zimmer’s coaching career was launched while he was doing his field experience in Bill Garceau’s Industrial Arts classroom. Bill was a wrestling coach and encouraged Jeff to apply for the Junior High Wrestling position in Foley and from there Zimmer would serve on the coaching staff from 1988 until 1992, a stint that included two years as the head baseball coach.

When he was hired to teach Industrial Technology at Becker High School in 1992, he started coaching wrestling as an assistant to Brad Novak for 16 years and then assisting Matt Aho for the next 10 years, before serving as Co-Head Wrestling Coach for the past two years. During his time at Becker, the wrestling team compiled a 355-265 dual meet record that included three Conference Titles and a trip to the State Tournament as a team in 2003.

He was named Section Assistant Coach of the Year in both 1997 and 2019, while the team sent 80 athletes to the state tournament during his career.  Thirty-five of those athletes would go on to earn a place finish at state, while three individual state championships were also claimed.

Zimmer also coached at Becker in the softball and baseball programs and was the Special Teams Coordinator for the Bulldog’s state football titles in 2015 and 2016 as part of his 21 years in the football program.

Family

In addition to his teaching and coaching duties, Zimmer says he is also proud of his family and thankful for their support over the years. His wife, Tammy, is in her 31st year of teaching fourth grade in Foley, while their daughter, Allison, is now a kindergarten teacher in Annandale.  Son Zach is an Industrial Engineer at Hydroflex.

Both Zimmer kids were active in activities in high school, with Allison being a three time letter winner in both soccer and lacrosse, as well as the wrestling team’s manager. Zach was a 100 match winner in wrestling, where he also placed fifth in state in 2013. He also had a great career on the football field for Becker.

Reflecting back on his Lifetime Achievement Award has been a satisfying experience for Zimmer, as he is able to recount the many experiences.

“It has given me the opportunity to pause and take a look back at the last 30 plus years to think about how the sport of wrestling has impacted me and my family’s lives,” said Zimmer. “This sport has given us so much, the highest highs and lowest lows, shaping us into the people we are today. I am thankful. It has made me realize and think about the many relationships that have formed with athletes, parents, fans, coaches, officials and administrators.  Wrestling is a brother/sister hood. This sport brings us together as a family. This family understands the true meaning of commitment, sacrifice and team work. I will miss it.”