By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – Dedicating 29-years of his life to Bloomington High School wrestling, BHS will dedicate their wrestling room after long-time coach Jim Bowers.
Before Thursday’s Intercity Wrestling Tournament, BHS will present Bowers’ family with a plaque at a ceremony at 5 p.m.
“We’re going to name the mat room at Bloomington High School the Jim Bowers Wrestling Room,” said Mike Manahan, who wrestled under Bowers. “He (Bowers) didn’t wrestle, but he learned it in the book, and he would go to clinics and everything else, and he ended up being one of the better coaches in the state.”
In 2017, Bowers passed away at the age of 89.
“I learned from the things he taught us,” added Manahan, who coached at Olympia High School. “I was then able to go out and coach because I have done it. Taking someone like that (Bowers) with just a book in his hand and he would say ‘this is what it is,’ and we would go over and learn it, but he did a great job with it. I wouldn’t have done the things that I have done today without coach Bowers.”
Bower’s resume includes 10 conference titles, four sectional championships, and a fifth-place finish in 1972.
Listen to the Intercity Wrestling Tournament live on WJBC here.
Blake Haas can be reached at Blake.Haas@Cumulus.com.
