Jim Pond was a three-time state place-winner in high school and followed that by being the only All-American wrestler ever at Georgia Tech University, finishing sixth in 1966.

His post-college wrestling includes multiple Oregon Senior Greco-Roman Championships and a second-place finish in the 1971 National Greco Roman Championships.

He began his coaching career after graduating from Georgia Tech in the top 20 percent of his class in industrial engineering.

He came to Oregon State University as a graduate assistant coach and then onto Simon Fraser University as head coach. After a successful three-year run at Simon Fraser, in which he coached 17 individuals to freestyle or Greco-Roman national titles, Jim returned to be an assistant coach at Oregon State University,

In 1981, Jim left coaching to pursue a successful career in engineering and was named Mentor Graphics’ Director of Worldwide Operations.

Pond may have left coaching, but he never left wrestling. He was instrumental in starting the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and served 25 years on the Board of Directors, including 20 as president.

He also served on the Oregon State University Blue Ribbon Committee for the OSU Wrestling Endowment Fund. One of his most influential contributions was founding the OSU Alumni organization known as the IOC. The IOC has met for 34 years, serving Oregon State wrestling alumni and supporters while focusing on supporting and sustaining the Beaver wrestling tradition.

Jim is retired and lives with his wife Suzanne in Portland, Oregon.