Montana State Northern Lights & Skylights Athletics

Jason Liles, was a 1979 graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a four year starter with more wins than any wrestler in that university’s history. He was the Most Valuable Wrestler his last three seasons. In 1982, he earned his master’s degree at Miami University where he was the assistant wrestling coach and helped develop three NCAA Division I All-Americans. The team won the Mid-America Conference title in 1984 and one wrestler was an alternate to the 1984 USA Olympic Freestyle team. Liles became the head coach at Northern Montana College in 1984 to take a successful program with to the next level. During his nine years at Northern, his teams won back-to-back National Championships in 1991 and 1992 and were runner-ups in 1990 and 1993. He recruited and developed six wrestlers who captured individual National Championships, forty-one wrestlers garnered All-American honors, and eight were Academic All-Americans. When he moved on to coach at South Dakota State University, he left the program in position to recruit and build on the success. The program has continued to excel and now has a total of six national team championships, 18 individual national champions, 119 All-American’s, and 15 Academic All-American’s. His protégés have enriched the coaching ranks of Montana’s prep programs with many selected as Coach of the Year in their respective leagues.

His first year with SDSU, his team earned their highest national finish in twenty five years placing fourth in the NCAA Division II with two individual national champions. In 2001 the team placed second at the national tournament and he was named Coach of the Year. Last year, the team placed third at the national tournament and it was the school’s eighth straight top five finish. His teams have won the Division II National Duals twice. The program has produced 37 All-Americans, 11 National Champions, 29 All-Academic selections and three wrestlers have been named Outstanding Wrestler at the National Tournament. Their dual record stands at 80-36-1 with one of the toughest schedules in Division II.