Born in Biddeford, Maine, in December 1946, James D. Aguiar was a two-time state wrestling champion at 165 pounds at Biddeford High School, and the school's first all-state football player.
Jim AguiarIn 1974, Aguiar was hired as an assistant professor of health education, assistant football coach, and head wrestling coach at Plymouth State University, an NCAA Division III school in the central New Hampshire city of Plymouth. At the helm of the Panther wrestling program from 1974-1985, Aguiar coached many All New England Wrestlers and the first NCAA Division II All-American wrestler at Plymouth State. He still owns the distinctions of being PSU's longest-serving wrestling coach (11 years) and still holds the record for most career dual meet victories, with a 109-90-1 record.
After earning his doctorate in education from Boston University in 1986, Aguiar headed west to become an instructor and wrestling coach at Minnesota State University Moorhead, located in far western Minnesota as the twin city for Fargo, N.D. In two seasons at MSUM, Aguiar led the Dragons to an overall record of 10-23. In 1988, Aguiar moved to Ithaca College in upstate New York, where he spent the remainder of his career teaching health education and supervising student teachers.
Aguiar retired from teaching at Ithaca in 2003, then returned to his former college home at Plymouth State, where he served as an assistant coach for the Panthers for the past dozen years, with a focus on recruitment and alumni relations. Recently, he it was announced he would be inducted into the Maine Wrestling Hall of Fame (in late August), the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame, and won the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance's Lifetime Achievement Award. In honor of his longstanding contributions, Plymouth State established the annual Jim Aguiar Wrestling Tournament.
Upon his return to New Hampshire, Aguiar became active in local Democratic party politics. In 2005, Aguiar won the first of five elections to serve in the State House of Representatives. He was particularly proud of helping to pass the Marriage Equality Law and introducing local elementary students to government, according to his obituary. Beyond wrestling and politics, Aguiar had a number of other passions, including travel (visiting all seven continents and all 50 states), playing guitar at open mic nights and at the local farmer's market, and all forms of boating.
Aguiar is survived by his wife Martha, daughters Gretchen and Jessica, his brother Daniel, and nieces, cousins and grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 22 at 10 a.m. at the Plymouth Congregational Church. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to: The Aguiar Family Award, c/o Treasurer, Biddeford High School, 20 Maplewood Avenue Biddeford, ME 04005. Or, Friends of Plymouth Wrestling c/o Coach Ryan Schieding, Plymouth State University P.E. Center, Plymouth NH, 03264.
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