John Phillips began wrestling as a freshman in high school in the fall of 1969. He remained active in wrestling rooms for over 50 years.

He had a runner-up California Interscholastic Federation finish and was First Team All South Bay as a prep.

Phillips went on to wrestle at Los Angeles Pierce College and California State University at Bakersfield from 1975-77, where he was a part of national championships teams.

As head coach at Artesia High School, he led his teams to five Suburban League championships, before becoming head coach at Irvine High School in 1987. In 34 seasons at Irvine, his teams won 428 dual matches and 20 titles in three different leagues. They also reached the semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation Dual Meet Championships nine times and finished in the Top 10 of the CIF-SS divisions 22 times.