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Shakopee's Jim Jackson steps down as head coach

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune, 10/19/20, 2:30PM CDT

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After leaving highly successful Apple Valley, Jackson led the Sabers to back-to-back state championships. He will be replaced by assistant coach Marcus LeVesseur.


Jim Jackson, coaching at Shakopee in 2016. (Star Tribune file photo)

Jim Jackson, the uber-successful wrestling coach at Apple Valley and Shakopee, announced Monday that he was stepping down as head coach at Shakopee effective immediately.

Jackson, 63, coached at Apple Valley for 32 years and was head coach for 17, from 1995-96 through 2011-12. He led the Eagles to 14 state championships over that span.

He took over at Shakopee in 2016 and guided the Sabers to back-to-back Class 3A team titles in 2019 and 2020. His career record is 868-64-4, a remarkable 92.73 winning percentage.

Jackson took a job outside of wrestling this fall and found it difficult to do that and coach wrestling simultaneously. 

“I thought I could manage my new position and being head wrestling coach at [Shakopee],” he said in an email. “After seven weeks at my new job, it is requiring more of my time than I initially thought it would. Trying to juggle both is not fair to our student athletes or our entire program. Nor is it fair to the company I work for.”

Assistant coach Marcus LeVesseur, a well-known name in Minnesota wrestling circles, will take over for Jackson at Shakopee.

LeVesseur won four individual state championships while wrestling at Minneapolis Roosevelt and went on to an undefeated college wrestling career (155-0) at Augsburg, winning four NCAA Division III national championships.

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