The history of Missouri wrestling cannot be written without the inclusion of the Paulsen name and especially Jim Paulsen. Whether it is as a two-time Class AA (large schools) state champion for his father at Riverview Gardens high school where he finished 101-5-2 in his career. Jim was the first Missouri wrestler to make the finals Junior Nationals (what is commonly referred to currently as Fargo) in freestyle in 1972 at 178 lbs.

After high school, Jim went on to join the Mizzou Tigers. He was a 3x Big 8 Placer, 2x Team Captain 1976 & 1977. When he qualified for the NCAA Nationals in 1975, He and his brother Joe became the first brother combination in the history of Mizzou wrestling to accomplish that feat. He finished his career with a 65-30 record and has been a big supporter of the Tigers ever since.

After graduating college, he spent a year at Brookfield high school as an assistant coach where they finished 2nd in Class A. The next year he went to his alma mater and was an assistant to Paul Lapinski where they won the 1979 Missouri Class AA Championship. While at Riverview he helped them win two more trophies. In 1984, Jim took the head coaching position at Hazelwood East high school and brought them to state and national prominence. During his tenure at Hazelwood East from 1984 until 1995 the Spartans won seven team trophies. That included a three-peat from 1993-1995. Jim and his father Don became the first father/son coaches to win Missouri team titles. His 1995 team was ranked top 25 in the country in USA Today. He was a three-time winner of the Missouri Coach of the Year award. Along with winning multiple Suburban North Coach of the Year and St. Louis Coach of the Year. In 1995 he was named The National High School Association Region 5 Coach of the year. In his 13-year tenure as coach of the Spartans he coached 13 state champions, 55 state placers, 4 college all-Americans, two Division I All-Americans and two wrestlers that went on to play in the NFL.

After Coaching Jim continued to be around wrestling as an official for many years.

Jim is married to Terry, and they have two children Mark and Julie.