Wrestling Head Coach - Don Parker

Don Parker

Don Parker is starting his 28th season as head wrestling coach at UW-Eau Claire. Parker also serves as an associate lecturer at Eau Claire.

When Parker took over as the coach in 1977, the squad only had six members. Since that time Parker has coached 11 All-Americans and 18 conference champions. Parker has coached an All-American wrestler in each of the last three seasons and a conference champion the past five years.

The 2003-04 Blugolds were led by conference champion and All-American Derek Sikora. Sikora won his first-ever conference championship at 165 pounds then went on to finish third at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.

In 1990, Parker's squad achieved the highest finish in Blugold wrestling history at the NAIA National Tournament as the Blugolds took 15th.

During the 1999-2000 season Parker returned from a serious neck injury that left him in a wheelchair and was named the WIAC Coach of the Year. That season the Blugolds matched its highest finish (4th) and highest point total (87) ever at the conference meet. The Blugolds have surpassed that point total in each of the last two seasons, placing third in 2000-01 and fourth in 2001-02.

Parker had proven he could turn a program around before, though. In his four years at Upper Iowa University (1973-77), he turned a mediocre program into one that finished among the top 15 in the NAIA Nationals and the NCAA Division III Nationals from 1975-77 and had six All-Americans. For his efforts, he was named 1975 Co-Coach of the year in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He was named NAIA District 14 Coach-of -the-Year for the 1986-87 season.

Upon receiving his bachelor's degree from Northern Iowa in 1968 and his master's from the same school in 1970, Parker coached at Zion-Benton High School in Illinois and Vernonia and Hillsboro High School in Oregon. He was later named the head coach at Upper Iowa and an assistant football coach.

As a collegiate wrestler, Parker was a two-time national champion at Northern Iowa. He was the recipient of UNI's Senior Athletic Scholar Award and also was selected to compete in the first East-West All-Star Wrestling Meet in 1967.

Parker was born in West Union, Iowa, and grew up in Hawkeye, Iowa. He graduated from North Fayette County Community School after competing in baseball, track, football and wrestling. He was a state champion wrestler and an All-State honorable mention football player.

Parker also teaches in the Department of Kinesiology. He and his wife Carol have three grown daughters--Kristen, Wendy, and Lesli.

Updated 8/18/04