Wrestling: Former UNI wrestler and Wartburg coach Jim Miller named new Dan Gable Museum director

The Des Moines Register

Jim Miller made a name for himself as a successful wrestler at Northern Iowa and an even better coach at Wartburg.

Now, Miller will be taking on a different wrestling role — as the new director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo. He will begin his duties on July 1.

"I am looking forward to getting started as the Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum," Miller said in a release.

"I see this next step in my life journey as an awesome and unique opportunity to get back involved with a sport that I love while working with Dan Gable and many others to advance wrestling right here in the Cedar Valley and in my hometown of Waterloo, Iowa."

Miller's new post was announced on Thursday by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He takes over after Kyle Klingman retired in April to take a job with Trackwrestling.

In his new position, Miller will be in charge of the museum's daily operations, which include the preservation of artifacts, programming, planning, communications, and fundraising. He will also oversee the Dan Gable Learning Center, training facility inside the museum.

"We are elated to have someone with Jim Miller's background leading the Dan Gable Museum for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame," Lee Roy Smith, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Executive Director, said in a statement.

"He has a keen knowledge of the sport's heritage while also contributing significantly to its history as a competitor, coach and motivational speaker. I am confident that he will advance our mission and the impact that the museum and its programs and services will have upon wrestling in Iowa and across the nation."

Miller, a Waterloo East graduate, won two Division II national titles at Northern Iowa in 1974 and 1975, and also finished second and fourth, respectively, during the same years at the Division I national championships.

He went on to coach at Wartburg starting in 1991, and led the Knights to 413 dual wins, 10 Division III national team championships, and 21-straight Iowa Conference titles. He coached 37 individual national champions and 147 All-Americans before retiring in 2013.

"The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum is newly renovated and having Jim Miller as its new director adds even more excitement to its overall potential," Dan Gable, the museum's namesake and longtime Iowa wrestling coach, said in a release.

"I am looking forward to working with a wrestling great and many others to enhance the great sport of wrestling."

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.