Head coach
Jim Heffernan
Jim Heffernan was head coach of Illinois at 11 NCAA championships, 2010–2021. Heffernan's teams finished in the top ten three times. Heffernan's wrestlers won four individual titles and earned 25 All-American places.
By school
| School | NCAA tournaments | Team titles | Top four | Top ten | Champions | All-Americans | Entries | Wrestlers | Record | Falls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 2010–2021 (11) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 69 | 31 | 185–131 | 18 |
As a wrestler
Jim Heffernan Jr. wrestled for Iowa at four NCAA championships, 1983–1987, and went 18–4. Heffernan won the title at 150 lb in 1986 and placed fourth at 150 lb in 1983, and second at 150 lb in 1985 and 1987.
| Year | School | Weight | Seed | Finish | W–L | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Iowa | 150 | 2 | 2nd | 4–1 | 5 bouts |
| 1986 | Iowa | 150 | 2 | 1st | 5–0 | 5 bouts |
| 1985 | Iowa | 150 | 2 | 2nd | 5–1 | 6 bouts |
| 1983 | Iowa | 150 | 4 | 4th | 4–2 | 6 bouts |
Jim Heffernan Jr.'s full wrestler record, every bout →
Coach and wrestler matched from Heffernan has drive to succeed, The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.) (Section 'The back story', paragraphs beginning "Heffernan was a star wrestler at Iowa" (article is about Heffernan taking over as Illinois head coach); canonical URL news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/heffernan-has-drive-to-succeed/article_74fd242d-9b6d-521c-8412-b6e6f9fb168e.html).
How these are counted
- NCAA tournaments are the championship years in which Jim Heffernan was the established head coach of a team with entrants. They are not years of employment; there were no championships in 1943–45 or 2020.
- A year inside the span with no established coach is listed but not counted. A year with two head coaches counts in full for both.
- Team titles are official NCAA titles from the published standings (1928, 1931 and 1933 have none). Top four and top ten come from the same standings.
- Entries count each wrestler once per tournament; All-Americans are counted as each era awarded them; wins and losses include forfeit, default and disqualification results; falls exclude forfeits.
- The head coach for each year, with sources, is on that year's program page. Report a correction.
Cite this page: “Jim Heffernan, head coach”, March Matness, NCAA Division I championship record, release affad6e7. https://www.marchmatness.app/coaches/ch_fb70580e030f4970/jim-heffernan/