By Angelina Bailo
Review Contributor
ORION TWP. — Lake Orion High School wrestling coach Jeff Smart was named the All-American Athletic Association’s 2024-25 Oakland County Wrestling Coach of the Year in December.
The referee’s committee honored Smart with the award at the Oakland County wrestling tournament on Dec. 14 at Lake Orion High School. The award highlights his dedication, skill and positive impact on the Lake Orion wrestling program.
Smart began his coaching career at Stoney Creek High School in 2001, leading wrestlers through state qualifiers and to a state championship. He took over Lake Orion’s wrestling program in 2014, earning multiple state qualifiers and program victories.
Smart’s wrestlers have gone on to wrestle in college, train at Olympic training centers and become coaches themselves. During his career, Smart had 41 state qualifiers, 21 wrestlers place at the state finals and one state championship.
Smart devotes his off season to mentoring students learning Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. He also emphasizes the importance of creating a positive community within the wrestling room where wrestlers feel like a family, and is described by his student athletes as “more than a coach.”
Smart began wrestling in elementary school, and comes from a family of wrestlers. He competed at Central Washington University for two years – qualifying for nationals in his second year. Smart eventually transferred to Brigham Young University when his college wrestling career came to a halt after a neck injury.
Smart was also deployed as an interrogator during operation desert storm with the United States Army.