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.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.