Montana Western, University of

A native of Whitehall, was Western’s head wrestling coach from 1987 to 1996. During that time, he coached Western to five top five finishes including a national championship in 1995. Nelson’s program produced 45 All-Americans, nine individual national champions and three Academic All-Americans. In 1988,Nelson was named “Rookie Coach of the Year” by Wrestling News. He was also selected NAIA “Coach of the Year”, Frontier Conference “Coach of the Year”, and District 12 “Coach of the Year.” Nelson was selected to coach at the NCAA All-Star Wrestling Tournament. He said his most memorable moments at Western included winning the NAIA national title, hosting two NAIA national tournaments and wrestling the NCAA champion University of Iowa team. Since leaving Western, Nelson joined the Great Harvest Franchising as Director of New Store Operations.