Athletic greatness comes in all shapes and all sizes.

It doesn't come naturally, but is achieved from hard work, diligence and adversity along the journey.

There's opportunity and there's always struggle.

There is triumph and there is defeat, and there is always a story behind the glory.

There's a long list of successful athletes who do not call the Bayou State home, but will always be remembered for the impact they had when a part of their journey brought them to Louisiana.

This is true for wrestling phenomenon Kevin Jackson, a two time state champion from Michigan who was a three time All-America at LSU.

His career would take him back north when the Tiger wrestling program ended in the mid 1980s, but that short stint in the Bayou State would make a lasting impact on the character of Kevin Jackson.

We met at LSU when he wrestled here and LSU throughout the program.

You went on to Iowa, but then you went on to be a world an Olympic champion.

Kevin, you were a Yankee when you were recruited to LSU.

And of course, the program three years into it for you disbanded.

But tell me about the connection between you as a guy who lived in the Far North and LSU, because I know you've adopted Louisiana as a second home, correct?

I had three teammates formerly from Michigan that were already on the wrestling team.

I had competed with them at during national tournaments.

While we were in high school.

So I had some connections to the team.

But then when I came down here and I felt the culture, the coaches were great coaches.

They were wrestling the top, the top, the top teams in the country.

We're ranked in the top ten and, just an outstanding wrestling program.

And that's what really drew me, to Louisiana State.

But then everything that, that, that actually, came along with it, kind of locked me in.

But, you know, you obviously passed up some very established programs, and LSU was good.

Oh, really good.

But it wasn't a national championship caliber team yet it approached.

That's right.

But, it must have been a difficult decision for you to come south all the way from Michigan.

Well, I just believed in what the coaches were doing.

I believe that I could go anywhere in the country and have pretty decent success.

But with LSU schedule, we wrestle the toughest teams in the country.

And actually, when they did drop the program, we were ranked fourth in the country.

So we right there knocking on the door to win a trophy at the NCAA tournament with outstanding recruits and outstanding wrestlers and outstanding coaching staff.

And so I thought, this is a place I could thrive in wrestling and, and on and, and on the academic level.

So that was the reason I chose Louisiana State.

Not to mention the weather in the food.

The two time state high school champion in Lansing, Michigan, was a three time All-America at LSU, finishing third in the 158 pound class in 1983 and 1984.

You get the name jackpot.

How did that come about?

Well, that came from my assistant coach, Lanny Davis, and when I was a freshman at Louisiana State and I was a highly decorated recruit coming to I was coming coming to Louisiana State.

And, and I was training one day in the weight room and I was lifting pretty good, working pretty hard and and Lanny says, when LSU got Kevin Jackson, they hit the jackpot and it got in.

It kind of stuck.

I didn't necessarily agree with him.

Agree with him then, but, but the name stuck and only my closest teammates from Louisiana State still call me that.

What he did after the program ended just brightened the star power even more.

Well, we were really fortunate Iowa State to have Kevin, transferred into our program after he had already accomplished, had been an All-American three times at LSU.

We had an interesting group.

People were young, tough guys, and we had maybe a group of guys that had underachieved to that point that were older.

And I think Kevin, kind of bridged the gap between those two groups of people.

And, they, they both had success.

Where in 1987, he captained the national championship team and was runner up in the 167 pound class.

He was, patient with his Olympic dream and, and really tried to pursue that as, as much as possible.

Yeah.

Jackson would go on to win the gold medal in the 181 pound class in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and won gold in both the 1991 and 1995 Pan Am Games and World Championships, giving him five major wins in a five year period.

He is one of only five freestyle wrestlers to claim three career world level titles.

I'm going to have to refer to my notes because there's so many accolades that I want to mention right now.

A two time Michigan State high school champion, a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

By the way, did you know Abraham Lincoln is in that Hall of Fame?

I didn't know he really was, you know, he went in as a wrestler.

Did you have a wrestling?

No, but I would like to.

The United World Wrestling Hall of Fame, the LSU Hall of Fame, now the Iowa State Hall of Fame, junior National Greco-Roman champion, four time College All-America, Olympic gold medalist.

Oh, I'm just getting started, by the way.

You can stop any time.

Twice a world champion, twice a Pan Am games.

Gold medalist.

Three times a World Cup gold medalist.

Kevin, how physically challenging is it?

What sort of preparation, what sort of skill set and strength set and mobility set is necessary to achieve what you have?

Well, I think I think wrestling is probably the hardest sport in the world, because you're using all the muscles in the whole body, you're actually trying to exert exert force against another human being to try to take that human being from a position, from a position that he's in to a position that he doesn't want to be in, meaning that you want to take him from his feet to his back or his feet to the mat, those type of things in a physical fashion.

And so, and so it's a sport that, that involved, you know, whether it's strength, whether it's conditioning, endurance is a huge part of the sport.

And if you ask a lot of football coaches, they really do like wrestlers on their team, even in the professional ranks.

And you see wrestlers actually performing, at the NFL level and the college level.

Several Hall of Famers are, former wrestlers.

And so wrestling was a sport that I was attracted to.

I was good at.

I had the physical tools to, to, to to be good at that as well.

And then I had the mental, fortitude to really, train and compete the way you must in a sport like wrestling, because it truly is hand-to-hand combat.

What was it about wrestling, though, that, that that drew you into the sport full time and 100% because it's not a glamor sport for the most part, the money is limited compared to other sports.

The opportunities are limited compared to other sports.

It seems to come to the forefront during the Olympics every four years, but in between not so much.

Right.

How was it for you in wrestling?

What was it that actually attracted you and said, this is something I want to do and learn?

Well, I think wrestling is a direct reflection of life.

Your response?

But you have an individual responsibility for how you succeed and how you move forward in life and in wrestling.

You win or lose what decisions you make at that moment.

So it all falls on you.

So when I play basketball and football, we lose a game in basketball.

And the quarterback, the one interception, the running back fumbled the ball.

Somebody missed the tackle.

And so you could there was always people to blame.

But in wrestling it's only you out there against another opponent.

And so I really I really welcomed that.

I really was excited about just me being in charge of my own destiny and making the decisions out there on my own, and and realizing how it carried over to how I live my everyday life and how it was a direct correlation between how I lived every day from not only in my in my relationship with God, but how I treated my my brothers and sisters and my wife, my family, my children and and everything else.

And so it just kind of culminated in the into into something that I really wanted to do and really felt so passionate about.

And then having success kind of pushed you in that, in that direction as well.

He joined USA wrestling in 2001, and was the freestyle coach for the United States at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.

After his last year of eligibility.

He was in the, in the room and, with us and, and, part of our staff and, and again, that, that, that charisma that, that Kevin had you get to understand yourself a little bit more as a competitor when you get a chance to coach.

He also served as USA Wrestling's national freestyle development coach, and presently is an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.

Stepping in and slamming.

You know, he's a lot of fun.

Anybody that knows them knows how fun CJ is knows how, enthusiastic he is and what it what a just what a spirited person he is.

So super fortunate that he's here at Michigan.

We're able to coach alongside each other again here at Michigan and and do some really special things with athletes.

He's always been an athlete mind coach.

But it's just been a lot of fun.

And he's just one of those really special people.

If you get to spend a lot of time around him, you're fortunate.

So we got to we chat, rethink, be clear and lock in on just wrestling.

Kevin has been honored in the international and U.S.

wrestling Halls of Fame.

And even though wrestling is a sport that doesn't get much attention in our state, Kevin Jackson proudly entered the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as an honoree and the class of 2020 for further strengthening his bond with the Bayou State.

You travel the world then to many, many continents and countries.

It seems to me you still carry a piece of Louisiana with you.

Is that true?

No place like it.

You know, I have been around the world.

Wrestling is taking me to all the all corners of the world.

And, And I've yet to find a place like Louisiana.

As far as the weather, the food, the culture, the hospitality, the the people.

It's it just feels like love.

Every time I come down here, it just it hits me a little bit differently.

You know, first the humidity hits me, but then.

But then everything, everything else hits me.

And, and the warm reception that I've always gotten when I'm down here.

One of the reasons I set my daughter to universe in New Orleans to play volleyball was because I knew she was going to be taken care of, and I knew she was going to see a, a culture.

She was going to experience different foods that she that she wants experience away from Louisiana.

And, and just everything that Louisiana, Louisiana has to offer, is available here.

And, and I'm welcomed just like a son when I come back.

And so and I try to share what I've experienced from the places that I've competed at and the championships that I've competed in.

And I just try to share that information and knowledge with, with in a passionate way, with, in a loving way where it's, it's sports and you want to win.

But at the end of the day, it's about the journey.

How hard you work in the direction that you really follow to get there.

I think that that brings the best memories and and I would never have fathom or even thought about my career ending in a place like this.

Never to my to my Russell.

I never imagined that I ever end up in a in a Hall of fame.

I just competed as hard as I could, I trained as hard as I could, and and everything else was just, you know, icing on the cake.

And fortunately for me, I was good enough to win some championships.

If you enjoyed this conversation, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum as exhibits and stories about Louisiana's sports greats.

Natchitoches is where history and fun blend with our state's rich sports culture.

Find travel planning tips@natchitoches.com.