Jason Loukides enters his fourth season as head coach of UNC Greensboro's wrestling program and his sixth season overall with the team.
In his third season at the helm, Loukides and the Spartans wrapped up the dual season with a 7-11 mark overall, while compiling a 4-1 record in Southern Conference matches to finish second in the league. The Spartans turned in another great finish at the SoCon Championships as they scored 73 team points to earn runner-up honors. Mikal McKee won the SoCon Championship at 184 pounds to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Chris Bencivenga also qualified for the NCAA Championships with his runner-up finish and Byron Sigmon earned an at-large bid to nationals, which marked the second-straight season he made it to nationals. Bencivenga was also named Co-Wrestler of the Year by the SoCon during the regular season and McKee and senior Ben Wilmore earned All-SoCon honors.
In 2007-08, Loukides guided the Spartans to a 9-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Southern Conference. As a team, UNCG finished third at the Mat Jam/SoCon Championships with 71.5 points. Individually, Jeff Hedges (133 lbs.), Byron Sigmon (165 lbs.) and Daren Burns (197 lbs.) were crowned champions in their respective weightclasses and advanced to the NCAA National Championships. Hedges, Sigmon and Burns also received All-Conference honors along with Ryan Hsu.
Loukides helped UNCG to a pair of milestones in his first season. The Spartans picked up their 100th win in dual meet competition with a 29-9 victory over Liberty on Feb. 21, 2007. Additionally, the Liberty match marked the 200th dual in program history since wrestling was instituted at UNCG in 1993. Additionally, the Spartans posted a 10-4 mark in Loukides' first season, marking the first winning season by a first-year head coach in program history.
Also in 2006-07, the Spartans finished second at the Mat Jam/SoCon Championships for the second year in a row, totaling 75 points. Two Spartans also claimed individual championships. Joe Lowe claimed his third-straight conference title at 174, while Joe Sheffield won at 285 lbs.
Prior to becoming head coach of the Spartans, Loukides served as an assistant coach under Tom Shifflet for two seasons. He helped UNCG to a 23-11 mark in dual matches. The Spartans won a school record 12 matches in Loukides' first year as assistant in 2004-05 and fell just shy of that mark at 11-6 in the 2005-06 season.
Before coming to UNCG, Loukides spent six years in the Army's World Class Athlete Program, located in Colorado Springs, CO.
Loukides served as a coach for Edinboro University's Scotsmen Wrestling Club team from 1996-97. He also served two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Slippery Rock University.
Loukides' major accomplishments on the mat include an opportunity to participate at the World Championships in Greece as a 2001 World Team Member. In 2003, he earned a silver medal in Greco International wrestling at the Pan American Games and earned a bronze medal in the freestyle division of the World Military Championships. In addition, Loukides placed fourth at the U.S. National Championships and fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials during the summer of 2006. He has earned All-American honors in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle at the Cadet, Junior, University, and Senior competative levels.
At national powerhouse Edinboro, where he was a college teammate of Shifflet's and competed under wrestling legend Bruce Baumgartner, Loukides finished third in the 1994 EWL Championships at 190 lbs. He advanced to the NCAA Championship held in Chapel Hill, NC, where he was seeded 12th and won his first round match to advance to the third round of wrestlebacks. Loukides still ranks 23rd all-time at Edinboro on the school's all-time win list, graduating with a career mark of 82-38-2. He was also a part of Edinboro's 1994 EWL Regular Season Championship squad.
Loukides earned a bachelor of arts degree in specialized studies from Edinboro University in 1994 and a computer systems management degree from Colorado Christian University in 2001. He received his master's degree in environmental education from Slippery Rock University in 2000 and is currently pursuing a second master's degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin.
