CLARKFIELD – A legendary name in the sport of amateur wrestling here in southwest Minnesota will soon join the ranks of the sport’s all-time greats after being selected to the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this past fall.

Clarkfield native Jim Williams — whose career in the sport has spanned the course of six decades through his time on the mat as an amateur wrestler, a coach and an official — will join nine fellow Minnesota inductees for the 2021 class. The nine new members will be celebrated and inducted at an upcoming banquet in Austin on April 24.

Williams officially retired from officiating after the 2019-2020 wrestling season and has been spending time at his home in Clarkfield with his wife Pam since stepping away from the sport. This past October, he received a letter informing him of his selection to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame which caught him off guard at first.

“I actually thought it was to write a letter (of recommendation) for my college teammate Jerry Reker,” said Williams. “I opened it up and it said you’ve been selected to be inducted into the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. I mean, I just couldn’t believe it. I was shocked,” said Williams.

“It’s quite an honor. I’m very humbled by it. I look at the people that are in there and I’m thinking I don’t know that I belong in there, but I guess they’re going to put me in there,” he added.

Williams began his career in the sport of wrestling as a junior high student following in the footsteps of his two older brothers who both wrestled for their hometown team, the Clarkfield Cardinals. After the two older Williams brothers moved on from the program in the late ’60s, Williams began his career as a varsity wrestler in the early 1970s where he helped lead the Cardinals to a runner-up finish in 1973 at the regional tournament that featured some of the top teams in the state, including Canby, which had become a dynasty in the sport. The following year, the Cardinals made it over the hump and earned a regional championship victory.

“In 1974 for my senior year, we put six guys in the region tournament and we ended up winning it. It was pretty exciting,” remembered Williams.

After an illustrious career at Clarkfield High School that saw him finish with a cumulative record of 78-12-3, Williams took his talents to Marshall where received a teaching degree and began wrestling for the-then Southwest State wrestling team under legendary Mustang coach Mike Sterner. According to Williams, Sterner would be the one who helped inspire him to not only get into coaching, but officiating as well after injuries derailed his career on the mat as an amateur wrestler.

“He (Sterner) basically got me started in it and then my freshman year I tore up my knee wrestling and my sophomore year I tore up my shoulder,” Williams said. “After that I didn’t wrestle anymore, but I kept on reffing.”

Out of college, Williams spent one year working working on the farm before returning to teaching at Clarkfield Elementary School. Around that same time, Williams took over as the head wrestling coach at Clarkfield High School. He would remain there from 1984 until 1989 when Clarkfield High School merged with Granite Falls High School to form Yellow Medicine East. The extra free time in the absence of his coaching duties allowed him to begin taking on more matches as an official–a pursuit that would last all the way into 2020.

The 2019-2020 wrestling season was one that won’t soon be forgotten for Williams, who described his final run as a wrestling official a ‘storybook ending’. Williams closed out his high school wrestling officiating career at the old gym he used to compete in at Canby High School for the 3A individual section tournament, before being called to the Xcel Energy Center for the state tournament. Williams received an unexpected surprise when he served as the assistant and head official alongside his former Southwest State University wrestling teammate Jerry Reker in the state finals.

“He and I reffed the finals of the individual tournament together. When we got all done all the officials at the state tournament lined up and shook our hand and we walked through and it was great. It was quite the ending,” said Williams.

Williams also served as an official at Gopher Wrestling matches– an experience that he says he’ll always cherish.

“When you’re out there in Williams Arena, it’s packed and it’s the Gophers against Iowa or it’s the Gophers against Penn State or Ohio State. I mean, it’s quite an experience,” said Williams That’s an experience and I mean it was a blast. It’s something I’ll always cherish.”

In the time since stepping away from officiating, Williams has been keeping busy working for the Prairie Grain Partners in Clarkfield as a truck driver a few days a week. For Williams, the job is a perfect fit.

“They treat me well. They know I’m retired and they approach it as any hour you can help us we’ll take it,” said Williams. “So, that’s kind of what I’m doing. I work there maybe three days a week or four days a week.”

When he’s not working, Williams is thoroughly enjoying his time spent with his family and babysitting his grandkids — another job that’s been keeping him plenty busy.

“Oh yeah, and that’s what I’m doing this week now,” said Williams. “I’ve got one daughter and she’s on vacation and her kids are in spring break so I’m going to be watching those three (grandkids). My wife Pam and I have 11 grandkids, so we’re looking forward to spending a lot of time with them.”