By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Jon Murray is retiring from teaching and coaching wrestling at Geneseo High School, but will continue to coach girls’ golf at GHS, and even though he is retiring, he leaves behind a legacy of success and impact. His achievements are not only significant, but will continue to influence others.
His success as a wrestling coach is known through out the Midwest and when asked about his decision to retire from both teaching and coaching wrestling, he said, “It’s been 33 years so with two years of banked sick leave, I can now retire from teaching will full retirement benefits. I decided to retire from coaching wrestling at the same time. That’s like a full time job in itself and I’m, ready to have some spare time. Also, the wrestling program is currently in a good place which is how I’ve always wanted to leave it.”
Thursday’s home wrestling meet at GHS will be bittersweet for Jon Murray(Center in white) as it is the final home meet for the GHS wrestling team where he will be leading them as their head wrestling coach. Murray is retiring from coaching wrestling and from teaching at GHS. Geneseo Current Photo
He will continue to coach girls’ golf and explained that the time commitment to coaching golf isn’t as much as wrestling and he will be coaching golf with his daughter Eryn Murray.
He added,” We lost about half of our golf team to graduation this past season, so it’s going to be tough without them. A goal of mine is to bring back our team to a competitive level where we once again are claiming conference and regional championships.”
His teaching carrier began with eight years at Geneseo High School followed by two years at United Township High School in East Moline and concluding with 23 years back at GHS.
His wrestling coach position began as eight years as an assistant coach at GHS, then two years as an assistant coach at UTHS and the last 23 years as head coach at GHS.
He began coaching girls’ golf in 2014 as an assistant coach for two years and became head coach two years later.
In his beginning years of teaching, Murray coached boys’ and girls’ cross country, wrestling, and boys’ track; was an assistant soccer coach for two years when he returned to GHS in 2002.
He coached in the State Tournament in both boys’ and girls’ cross country, track and field, girls’ golf, and both in individual and dual team wrestling State Tournaments.
As a wrestling coach, including the two years at UTHS, Murray has coached over 100 state qualifiers, 36 All-State wrestlers and four State Champions, and he has been part of 10 team conference championships and 10 team regional championships.
“We have been in the top eight in the State five of the last 12 years including dual team state runner-up finishes in 2013 and 2014 and we are currently ranked #4 in the State in 2025.”
His success as a wrestling coach has not gone unnoticed as Coach Murray was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (ISWCOA) Hall of Fame in 2023.
Wrestling has been part of Murray’s life for 50 years, beginning when he was in first grade at Ellis YMCA in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where his Dad helped coach.
“I wrestled all the way through five years in college and have been coaching it ever since,” he said.
He was a three-time Midwest Conference Champion and four-time NCAA Division III National Qualifier for Illinois College (Jacksonville, IL) and was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
When asked what made him choose Geneseo to teach and coach, he said, “I had just graduated from Illinois College in May of 1992 and was looking for a job. I attended Geneseo schools from sixth through ninth grades, and just long enough to know Ted McAvoy as my teacher in Electricity class during my freshman year at GHS. Don Frederichs (teaching and coaching at GHS at the time) just happened to take off to Utah a couple of weeks before school started in August of 1992. I immediately drove five hours to Ted McAvoy’s (who was GHS principal at the time) office the morning after I heard this and told him I wanted that job. He set up an interview with me the following morning and called me on Monday to hire me. School started the following Monday! It all just kind of fell into place.”
Murray also was asked to share some memories from teaching and coaching that he will take with him into retirement, and he said, “Probably the greatest part of teaching and coaching here is the tremendous community support; we’ve always had great boosters and fans. Furthermore, I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with amazing assistant coaches who have made this job easier and have contributed to our success and sustainability. I’m not sure I could have lasted this long without them.”
“As for favorite memories, there have been many, but one that kind of represents the overall experience was walking out onto the floor of the arena for the final round of the Dural Team State Tournament in 2013 to the cheering of our fan section. It literally sent chills down my spine and tears into my eyes. I’ll never forget that feeling and have been lucky enough to have multiple other great moments as well.”
He and his wife Ami have a son, Sam, 26; daughter, Eryn, 22, and one grandson.
“I met my wife Ami during my first year of teaching and in my first season of coaching which happened to be a cross-country meet,” he said. “Her brother, Andy Snook, was a senior on the team at that time. She was teaching in Nora Springs, Iowa, at the time and would come to watch Andy run occasionally. Also, Ami’s Dad, Mel Snook, was the head coach and I was his assistant, so he introduced us. Our conversations led to marriage and eventually our two children…On a side note, Andy became the first ever All-State athlete that I ever coached that year placing 11th at the State Cross Country Meet.”
Murray’s retirement plans include “spending days on the golf course, on a lake or river fishing, hiking with the dogs, mountain biking and hanging out with my grandson.”
