Jeff Buxton is the Assistant Coach of wrestling at Columbia University as of September 2024. Buxton is a 1980 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and started his coaching career shortly thereafter as the head coach at Chariho Regional High School in Hopkington, Rhode Island. He then became the head coach at Blair Academy in 1982. During an impressive 30-year tenure at Blair, Buxton led the team to 30 consecutive National Prep Championships. Blair secured the No. 1 ranking in the country 10 times with Buxton at the helm. A member of the Rhode Island Wrestling Hall of Fame, and member of the New Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame, Buxton produced numerous national prep champions and dozens of national freestyle champions at Blair. Alumni coached by Buxton went on to win 12 individual NCAA titles and 41 were crowned NCAA Division I All-Americans. Jeff is also the recipient of USA Wrestling’s Lifetime Achievement. In 2012, Coach Buxton took the head coaching position at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

's post-graduate wrestling program, the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club (LVAC). At LVAC, Coach Buxton coached senior-level wrestlers at U S senior National championships, the Pan American Games and the senior World Championships . On a selected basis, he also works with junior wrestlers who are competing internationally. In 2019, Coach Buxton served as the USA men’s wrestling freestyle coach. In 2022, Buxton served as the head coach of the Scarlet Knight Regional Training Center at Rutgers University. In his role there, he worked closely with recently hired Columbia wrestling coach, Sebastian Rivera, as Rivera went on to be a World Silver Medalist in 2023 and an Olympic Bronze Medalist in 2024. As of September 2024, Buxton currently serves as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Columbia University.

Personal highlights

*In 1975, he was a National Prep ChampionBlair Wrestling Head Coach
accessed January 3, 2007 *Earned 13 varsity letters in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

*Wrestled undefeated through four seasons. *Named 1975 Rhode Island Athlete of the Year *Inducted into

Providence Country Day School The Providence Country Day School (often abbreviated to the initials PCD) is a co-educational independent school founded in 1923. Located in East Providence, Rhode Island, United States, it serves 375 students in grades PreK through 12. The s ...

's Athletic High School Hall of Fame. *NCAA Qualifier in college at

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

*Outstanding Wrestler in the 1980 Northeastern Regional Olympic Trials.

Coaching highlights at Blair Academy (1982 - 2012)

*30 "National Prep Tournament" Team Championships *10 USA number one teams, from the 1995-1996 season through 2011-2012.

Personal achievements

* themat.com "Wrestler of the Week May 2006"USA Wrestling On-Line
Gary Abbott

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling ...

17 May 2006 *He received a USA Wrestling's Lifetime Achievement Award during special banquet for the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Wrestling other featured guest,

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

Gold Medal Champion Rulon Gardner.'

In presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Buxton, Blair wrestling parent Alan Meltzer said this about the man who coached his son: "I gave Jeff one of my most prized things in life, my son. The only thing that matters to a parent is his children. Jeff would be a mentor as a wrestling coach and as a human being. We made the right decision. Jeff's record is incredible."

Jeff's teams have been declared national champions among high school teams numerous times, and many of his student-athletes have gone on to become champions and college All-Americans. Jeff is active in the state association, USA Wrestling New Jersey, where he serves as coach for the Cadet National and Junior National USA Teams compeating in Fargo, ND. He is currently serving on New Jersey Coaches Council.

References

American wrestling coaches Living people Sportspeople from Warren County, New Jersey High school wrestling coaches in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-wrestling-bio-stub