Nate Jackson Returns to Princeton Coaching Staff

Last week, Princeton head coach Joe Dubuque announced that Anthony Ashnault would join Cody Brewer on the Tiger coaching staff for the 2024-25 season. Today, Dubuque has rounded out his coaching staff by hiring Nate Jackson. 

Jackson is a familiar face for followers of the Princeton team, as he had spent six years previously on the Tiger coaching staff. Like Dubuque, Jackson is an Indiana alum and wrestled for the Hoosiers while Dubuque was on staff. In Bloomington, Jackson captured a pair of All-American honors - placing fifth as a junior and eighth as a senior. Since his graduation, Jackson has been a fixture on the freestyle scene. In 2022, he was a match away from making the Senior World Team at 92 kg. Jackson advanced to Final X and took a match from two-time world champion, J’den Cox, but ultimately fell in the deciding contest. 

In Austin Sommer’s interview with Dubuque, he stressed the importance of having a specific coach to work with the lightweights, middleweights, and heavyweights. With Brewer already aboard and presumably working with the smaller guys, it leaves Ashnault in the middleweights and Jackson assuming control of the big men. 

The Princeton staff has to be one of the most decorated in all of college wrestling. Each coach AA’ed at the DI level multiple times, with Ashnault and Brewer doing so four times. Those two along with Dubuque each have national titles to their name. Jackson is the most accomplished from a freestyle standpoint.