Zalesky had been officially named as OSU's new coach on Friday, but Tuesday was the first chance for him to meet with OSU athletic staff, alumni, fans and reporters. Zalesky will also be greeted by Portland-area fans at a reception Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at Hayden's Lakefront Grill in Tualatin; the event is open to the public.
Zalesky compiled a 127-34 dual meet record at the University of Iowa, serving as head coach from the 1997-98 season through the 2005-06 season; he was twice named National Coach of the Year. His teams won NCAA titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and the Hawkeyes finished second in 2001 and 2004. Zalesky's teams captured three Big Ten team titles and his wrestlers won 10 NCAA individual titles and 45 All-American honors.
Zalesky wrestled for Iowa in the early 1980s and was a four-time All-American and three-time NCAA champion at 158 pounds, ending his Hawkeye career with an 89-match winning streak. The Amateur Wrestling News named him the Wrestler of the Decade for the 1980s.
Zalesky's coaching career also includes three years as an assistant coach at Minnesota and seven seasons as an assistant under legendary Iowa coach Dan Gable. As an assistant at Iowa, Zalesky was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year twice.
Oregon State's hiring of Zalesky links one of wrestling's winningest coaches with one of the sport's winningest traditions.
The Beavers rank third in all-time dual meet victories with an 895-286-26 mark dating back to 1909. OSU has won 44 team conference championships and 200 individual conference titles; the Beavers have placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 18 times; and OSU wrestlers have earned 81 All-America honors, including 12 national titles. In the pre-NCAA Championships era, Oregon State won the 1926 team national title at the Amateur Athletic Association meet.
The transcript of Tuesday's news conference:
BOB De CAROLIS
"It's another great day to be a Beaver, and we're very excited about this day. Before I get into comments about our new coach, I want to thank Joe Wells for 14 years of exemplary service to the University. He did a great job, not just in running the program from a competitive nature but also running a clean program and on academically how well his kids did. He's leaving the program in good shape with a good nucleus going forward, and that's something we talked about to all the candidates - this wasn't a program in disrepair, we just needed to take it up a notch. So I want to thank Joe publicly for that."
"As far as our new head coach, what can you say? A three-time national champ as a competitor, three championship rings as a coach. He brings a great legacy to Oregon State with his background and we're hopeful that translates, as I said before, into taking it to the next level. Our goal is to be a dominant force in the Pac-10; once we're a dominant force in the Pac-10, that should get us into the top 10 or 12 in the country. Once you're there, it's just a matter of things breaking right to where you can vie for a national championship and that's our goal. So we're very excited about this day, and we're very excited about our new head wrestling coach, Jim Zalesky."
JIM ZALESKY
"First of all, I'd like to thank Bob for hiring me. I really appreciate the opportunity to be hear. My family is looking forward to being part of the Oregon State family and the Corvallis community - that was a big sell for us when we came here. As far as coaching, I always shoot for the top; I always shot for the top as a competitor and that's my goal as a coach. I believe in shooting to be No. 1, that's what you do it about. You do it the right way, you work hard, and if you work hard enough, you're going to have success. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be here, I'm looking forward to meeting the team and getting going there, to getting going recruiting-wise, and to meeting everybody in the wrestling community here.
"Again, I'm excited to be here. Two weeks ago when I got a call from Oregon State, it really made my day and so I'm really looking forward to being here and to having my family move here."
(What style of wrestling will you bring to Oregon State?) "I believe the name of the game in wrestling is to pin a guy; if you're out there, that's the ultimate goal, to pin your opponent, in wrestling. That's what we'll stress, my coaching staff and I. I stress wrestling for a seven-minute match; it's seven minutes and you've got to be aggressive. If you want to put people in the stands, you've got to put on a display of action. That's how I wrestled and that's how I coach. We're not going to lose because we're not in shape, we're not going to lose because we didn't work hard enough. Those are things we can control, and I'm going to expect my team to be in great shape."
(You're coming from one of the most prestigious programs in the country. Do you foresee something like that happening here?) "It can happen anywwhere, if you work hard enough. My goal is to get as many people involved as possible - not just the coaching staff, not just the athletic department, but outside groups, booster groups. All those things are a key in having a great program."
(Talk about the program you're taking over - what do you know about it and the shape it's in?) "Actually, this was probably one of my final college choices, was Oregon State University. (Former OSU head coach) Dale Thomas actually recruited me. I know a lot about Dale Thomas and what he's done here, and what Joe Wells has done after that. It's got great tradition. It's always been known as good wrestling. I think it's got a good foundation; you've just got to build up on it. As Bob said, Joe Wells did a great job here. You've got a good foundation coming back now it's just time to build up on it and raise expectations."
(Are there plans to bring any of your staff from Iowa here?) "Troy Steiner was my head assistant and he's going to come out and look at it; I think he's been here before. Some people might know him, I think he and his brother Terry were for a year or two years (as assistant coaches). He's going to come out and look at it Thursday, and depending on what he does, we'll go from there. I'm going to build a staff that works together. Just like me, they've got to work hard and put the time in. I told the team, I'll be here at 6 in the morning if you want to be here at 6 in the morning to work out; I'll be at midnight if you want to work out at midnight. That's just what I expect of my coaches and of myself."
(Can you tell us in a nutshell why you think you were let go at Iowa?) "I don't know if a nutshell is big enough. I don't know. I think they wanted me to take the Oregon State program."
(Can you tell us what the facilities were at Iowa, and what the difference is at OSU, and what facilities you hope to see here?) "I know on the drawing board, they're talking about building a new wrestling room, but right now it doesn't matter what kind of facility is - it's what you put into it. You can have a weight room that looks real good, but if nobody goes in there to lift weights, that weight room really isn't doing anybody any good. To me, the room doesn't really matter, what shape or size it is, as long as it's got wrestling mats in it. It's the effort you put in in that wrestling room, that's the key to it. Yeah, it'd be nice to have a great-looking facility for recruits coming in, but to me that's all show. It's what you do in the wrestling room that's going to make the difference. And Bob said he's going to build a new one anyway, by next year, so I believed him. (laughter)"
(Talk about the pressures at Iowa and how disappointed you were to be let go there) "I think it's the expectations. You want to have guys on the team have the expectation to be national champions. At Iowa, I had expectations - not put on me, but of myself to win nationals every year. That was my expectation. Pressure, people say you come out to Oregon State and there will be no pressure on you, I don't believe in that - I want pressure. If you don't have pressure on you, you're not fighting for the top spot, it means you're down below. I want pressure; I'll put pressure on myself and I'll put pressure on the guys beneath me. If there's no pressure on you, you're not where you want to be."
(Does the fact that you were just let go from a program give you even more motivation?) "You always need motivation. I'm a pretty motivated individual anyway, but you can always use more motivation and sometimes … I really haven't said much about the Iowa job and I'm not going to say much about it. A Chinese proverb, my mom said, ‘If you don't have anything good to say about something or somebody, don't say anything.' That's kind of my comment about that. But I always think you need motivation, more motivation, keep that inside of you and let it motivate me here. I just look at it as adding fuel to the fire sometimes."
(Is there time for you to go out and recruit and sign someone before this signing period ends?) "Yeah, there is. Actually, I'm going on the road tomorrow, so we'll see. There are some kids calling who are interested, I think there are some people looking at the effort Oregon State is putting into it, the resource they're putting into it, and they're excited to join and maybe be part of this. That's something you look for - guys who are excited about joining something, looking at something and building something, and being a part of it."
(A few years ago, Oregon State hosted the regional Olympic trials for Greco-Roman and Freestyle. Can we do that again, and what's involved?) "You can do that again. You have to put a bid in for it for USA Wrestling; they look for people to have that event. Really, you just have to put a bid in for that event. But it's good exposure to the area if you can get it here; it's good exposure to young guys looking at Oregon State."
(The Midwest and the East have an advantage in recruiting just by population density. How can that be dealt with?) "I think in this recruiting base, I look and there are good kids out here; there are good kids everywhere. It's just getting them in the right environment and the right program and pushing the right buttons and working hard. I believe there are kids in Oregon that can beat kids in Iowa, and there's good wrestling in Washington, good wrestling in Idaho, Montana, Utah, California - you can get good kids in this area and be the best, I believe that."
(OSU's fan base has dwindled and wrestling has gone to free admission. What's your position on charging for admission or giving it away?) "Oh, I think we'll charge next year. (laughter) It's going to be a good product; hopefully we can make some money too, not just spend it."
De CAROLIS "Besides being the head wrestling coach, he's also going to take on the role of being business manager. Before we go any further, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Todd Stansbury and Marianne Vydra, who were vital in the search process and were in all the interviews. They did a great job, so I want to make sure I recognize them."
ZALESKY (Are you going to concentrate on Oregon kids now, or the Northwest, or … ) "I think your backbone is always going to be in Oregon. But you look at Oregon, Washington, the Northwest. You look at the Northwest, you look at kids that want to be part of your program. I look for a certain style. I want kids who wrestle hard, and I think that starts in high school; you look at those kids in high school and how they wrestle and you take them to another level when they get here. If they stand around in high school, they're probably going to stand around in college, so I want guys who are aggressive in high school. Those guys are easier to coach, and that's our style."
(Have you thought about assistant coaches and putting a staff together?) "Troy Steiner is coming out. My experience at Iowa is that you want to hire your first coach first and then go from there. But we're going to have a bigger guy coach, and a lighter-weight coach, a middle-weight coach, and that way I can fish all the time (laughter). No, but we're going to get coaches who can work with the whole team. That's important for a staff."
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now