West Chester University alumnus Jeff Cook is to be inducted into the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, writes Ethan Morrison for The Times.
Cook officiated both high school and collegiate wrestling for over three decades leading up to his upcoming induction on April 27.
A Hopewell native, Cook wrestled and played baseball in high school before attending West Chester University. While playing college baseball at West Chester, Cook led the team to a PSAC title in 1983.
After college, he began officiating junior high school wrestling matches, where he worked for years before officiating at the collegiate level.
Cook officiated nine NCAA Division I Championships, five NCAA Division I finals, and five Big Ten Championships as a Division I wrestling official, among numerous other tournaments and national competitions.
He formally retired from officiating in 2018 but continued working in the field as an educator and mentor. He worked as an NCAA Division I Championship Video Review Official in 2021 and as a video review educator for NCAA Postseason Tournaments.
Cook shared that educating the incoming generation of wrestling officials makes for the most important part of his long career, stating that “there was more reward in mentoring the younger officials than all the accolades I received as an official.”
Read more about Jeff Cook and his upcoming induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in The Times.
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