| Sport: | Wrestling |
| Inducted: | 2009 |
John Woods wrestled at Cal Poly from 1964 to 1969. As a senior
he captured the NCAA Division II title at 167 pounds and went on to
finish second at the NCAA Division I National Championships. He was
a Division II national runner-up in 1968, thus earning three NCAA
All-America honors.
Woods was a team captain in 1969, selected to the NCAA East/West
All-Star Team in 1969 and led Cal Poly to NCAA Division II team
championships in both 1968 and 1969.
Woods was 34-6-4 in dual meets as a Mustang with five falls. He
earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education at Cal
Poly in 1969 and a master’s degree in education, also at Cal
Poly, in 1970.
Woods went on to coach wrestling, first for two seasons (1970-72)
at Orange Glen High School followed by 16 seasons (1973-88) at
Palomar College. He guided Orange Glen to a 45-9-2 record in two
years, a pair of league titles and a CIF-San Diego Section
runner-up finish. At Palomar, Woods coached the Comets to a
179-19-3 record and six California Community College state
championships.
Woods was director of athletics at Palomar College from 1986-2007
and currently is commissioner of the Pacific Coast Athletic
Conference. He was named California Community College Athletic
Director of the Year in 2004.
Woods earned state coach of the year honors four times and NCAA
Community College Coach of the Year honors four times as well. He
coached over 50 community college All-Americans, including 11 state
champions.
Woods is a 1964 graduate of Redwood High School in Visalia,
earning first-team all-Central Yosemite League honors in football
and wrestling, winning two CYL titles in wrestling and posting a
63-8 record in wrestling with a CIF-Central Section
championship.
He was inducted into the Redwood High School Hall of Fame in 1974,
the NCAA College Division Hall of Fame in 1998, the NCAA Wrestling
Hall of Fame in 1999 and the California chapter of the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000.