Goshen wrestling coach Jim Pickard to be inducted into state hall of fame
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For Pickard, Goshen’s athletic director and head wrestling coach, wrestling has always been bigger than the mat. It has been about family, discipline and reaching students in a way that lasts long after their final match.
Pickard will be inducted into the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame next year, one of the association's highest honors.
His athletics journey began as a teenager, when his high school program won multiple state championships, building a Hall of Fame legacy of its own. Pickard later wrestled at Iowa State, but 14 knee operations cut his competitive career short.
Coaching became the next chapter.
For the past 33 seasons at Goshen, Pickard has turned that chapter into a legacy, building a 547-205 record with the RedHawks.
“I hope that I’ve helped a lot of kids,” Pickard said. “I feel like a lot of them stayed in school and graduated because of wrestling and I helped with that.”
Pickard said that mindset came from his mentor and high school coach, Leo Johnson, a National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee. Growing up, Pickard wanted to be like him. Now, after more than three decades at Goshen, he has spent his career living out that dream.
“I don’t talk about winning a lot. I talk about doing the right thing and wins come along and, obviously, I think we’ve done something right over the years,” said Pickard.
That “something right” is now being recognized at the state level. Pickard will enter the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame next year, but his proudest title may still just be coach.
“I want better citizens when they leave wrestling. It’s not about the wins or losses. It’s about what they get out of it, the lessons they learned, discipline, and just to be responsible and respectful.”
It is a Hall of Fame honor built on wins but remembered through people. At Goshen High School, Pickard’s legacy will not only be measured by the matches his teams won, but by the lives he helped shape.