Hall of Fame
Jim Bezotte’s wrestling career blossomed at UW-Parkside where he earned five All-American honors including two National Championships. As a senior, Jim won back-to-back Heavyweight National Championships, one in the NCAA National Championship Tournament and one in the NAIA National Championship Tournament over a 9-day span. In the NCAA championship match, he defeated an opponent that had defeated him nine times in his career and who was going for his third consecutive NCAA championship. In the NAIA Championship he defeated an opponent who had earned NCAA All-American honors earlier in his career and had beaten Jim earlier in the season. Since Jim’s back-to-back titles, no collegiate wrestler has won two national titles in the same year at UW-P. His earlier National Tournament finishes were 7th, 6th and 4th. Jim is one of only five UW-Parkside wrestlers to earn All-American honors in each of his four years of competition. Following his senior competitive season, Jim participated on the NAIA cultural exchange team, wrestling in Russia.
