| Email: | Randy.Baker@mnwest.edu |
| Title: | Head Coach |
Minnesota West Community and Technical College Head Wrestling Coach Randy Baker is a high school graduate (1973) from then Jackson High School in Jackson, MN. He is not only one of the best wrestling coaches in the state of Minnesota but in the United States. He is an ambassador to the sport of wrestling that cares about the growth of each individual wrestler as well as the wrestling programs in our country.
He started wrestling in Jackson and was a two time state entrant. He then went to MN West CTC to wrestle for NJCAA Hall of Fame coach Stan Hotzler. Randy was a two time Minnesota State and Region place winner and went on to win both his sophomore year. He was a two time NJCAA National Qualifier while placing 5th in the Nation his sophomore year.
Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD is where he transferred to after his great experience at community college. He placed 3rd in the North Central Conference and also qualified two times for the Division II National Tournament. Wrestling for Coach Paul Kendle, and as a team captain for the Vikings, the Vikings finished second in the Division II National Tournament. He then stayed on as a graduate assistant for two seasons for Paul Kendle.
The high school wrestling ranks is where Randy took his coaching skill to help inspire future wrestlers to achieve the goals of being the best that their abilities allowed. Lakefield was the winner in hiring him as their head wrestling coach after searching 5 years for a teaching position. Lakefield later consolidated in 1998 with Jackson HS. Coach Baker took HLOL and JCC HS to 14 team Minnesota State tournaments. The teams won seven state Championships, one team runner-up, three 3rd, two 5th, and one 6th place finishes. He inspired 39 individual State Champions; including 2 Mr. Minnesota wrestlers and 4 3 time State Champions along with numerous place winners at the Minnesota Individual State tournament.
His giving to the sport also allowed him to coach in the MN USA wrestling ranks for 25 years in both Freestyle and Greco Olympic forms of wrestling. He attended coach’s workshops in Lake Placid and Colorado Springs Olympic training centers for MN USA wrestling and is a Bronze certified coach. He started coaching Cadet and Junior elite wrestlers in 1989 and did so until as recently as 2017. During this time he also coached several years of Schoolboy freestyle Duals. He was the Head Cadet Coach for numerous years in MN USA Freestyle. He coached in both Cadet USA Individual and Dual National Tournaments. USA wrestling teams had numerous top finishes during his tenure. MN USA Wrestling also had numerous Cadet National Champions and place winners along with a Cadet National Dual Championship during his tenure. While working with MN USA Junior wrestling in 2017, he helped coach the MN Storm teams to top 3 placing in Greco and the MN Storm team also won the Junior Freestyle national title.
His wrestling and coaching brought this ambassador his due recognition. He has been inducted to the WCTC Hall of Fame, Augustana Hall of Fame, Jackson County Wrestling Hall of Fame, and National Wrestling Hall of Fame MN Chapter. He was Man of the Year USA Wrestler Magazine, National Developmental Coach of the Year USA Wrestling, MN USA Coach of the Year, and USA Region Coach of the Year.
Randy accepted the MN West Head Coach position to help strengthen Minnesota College Athletic Conference college wrestling programs so that high school wrestlers can continue to have places to wrestle, succeed, and go on to four year programs as he did in his life. GO Bluejays!