JIM WARREN

Richard Dunn

A pioneer of sorts and orchestrator of big-budget athletic programs,

Jim Warren knew where he was headed out of college -- Southern

California.

Warren, born in Arkansas and raised in Sterling, Colo., met his

wife, Sandra, in graduate school. She was from Texas, so moving here

was mutual.

“We were just another couple moving out here like everyone else,”

Warren said. “Before you know it, you’re in debt, you make friends,

buy a house and look up and two generations have passed by.”

After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado, Warren

landed a teaching job at Ganesha High in Pomona, then a year later

arrived at the Newport-Mesa School District and stayed for 34 years.

A former collegiate wrestler who became a longtime NCAA referee in

the sport, Warren was hired at Estancia in the school’s second year,

beginning in the fall of 1966, and spent 20 years at Estancia, while

building one of Southern California’s top wrestling programs.

“Those were great times,” said the 59-year-old Warren, who retired

two years ago, the same time as his wife of 36 years who was also a

teacher.

Warren, who also taught at Corona del Mar for three years and

Newport Harbor for the final 12 years of his career, believed in

large booster clubs with a single aim for the program -- to be the

biggest and best around. Mission accomplished at Estancia as the head

wrestling coach, then later at Newport Harbor in golf.

“We always had a lot of kids involved and a lot of parents

involved,” said Warren, whose programs were notorious for busting at

the seams in terms of numbers, with 100 kids out for wrestling at one

point at Estancia and 50 signed up for golf teams at Newport Harbor,

all color coordinated and dressed to the nines in their Sailor

outfits.

Warren, among the first in California to hire walk-on coaches,

brought aboard as many as 10 assistant coaches in a season at

Estancia.

The Eagles often traveled, including once to Japan for the

Japanese National Championships, in which Estancia placed a

respectable fourth. CIF Southern Section officials wouldn’t let

Warren go with his team to Japan in 1976 because it was out of

season, so Warren hired former Olympic wrestler Gene Davis to travel

and coach his team -- all expenses paid, of course.

Warren, you see, was a groundbreaking coach in fund-raising,

picking up a bingo license (which he never used) and setting up

firework stands. He claims to be “the first guy to have off-campus

accounts” at Estancia, while establishing a new world order in

prepathletics beyond football and basketball.

“We would have $35,000 to $40,000 in the bank,” Warren said. “We

always dressed our kids first class and had 10 paid coaches ... it

was the first time for big boosters, because we were doing a lot of

traveling. Then every time we’d travel, we carried 30 girls with us

-- the cheerleaders. They were called the Wrestle Sprouts.”

At first, getting kids out to wrestle was like pulling teeth. Then

everybody started showing up to the wrestling room. It became the

thing to do. It was in vogue to wrestle. Eventually the best athletes

at school were enrolled in wrestling and Estancia went on to capture

several team and individual league championships.

Among the champion heavyweights were Vince Klees, a former Notre

Dame football center, and Kevin Sloan, who later started at tackle

for Washington State. Other former Warren wrestlers include Alan

Greeley, now the most noted chef in Orange County, and Costa Mesa

Councilman Allan Mansoor.

“(Greeley) was my 112 pounder,” Warren said. “He had a bad home

life. He was so poor he couldn’t eat. He joined a boys chef class at

Estancia so he could learn to cook and eat.”

Warren, who majored in business education at Northern Colorado,

also launched the Estancia wrestling tournament, at the time one of

the first to host 32 teams in varsity and junior varsity. “Now all

the tournaments are patterned after that,” he said.

The huge Estancia gym would house eight matches at once.

(Spotlights were installed for home matches to highlight Eagle

wrestlers.) During the tournaments, the program would profit about

$5,000 a day merely on concessions, because when the varsity

wrestlers were competing, the hungry JV kids were standing in line

for a hot dog and soda, and vice versa.

“We bought the biggest wrestling mats in the United States,”

Warren said. “We had nothing but the best. And that’s the way it was

at Newport Harbor, too. Our clothing budget for boys and girls golf

was $10,000 a year.”

Warren, who taught several subjects during the course of his

career, hired the best assistant coaches he could find at Newport

Harbor, where he became only the school’s third golf coach, following

longtime Tar coaches Chet Wolfe and Steve Dye.

These days, Warren, who once operated gas stations in Colorado, is

still involved in business, allowing him to travel with his wife.

Warren, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

has owned a home in Corona del Mar for 24 years.