A Humble Leader On The Field And On The Mat: A RMAC HOF Feature On Tom Beeson's Collegiate Career
RMAC Media Relations
This is the fourth profile of six individuals being inducted into the 2019 RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 12 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. The 2005 Fort Lewis Men's Soccer Team will also be inducted. Click here to read the features on Kate (Murphy) Avila, Frank Gross, and Frank Christensen.
Resilient, disciplined, humble and passionate - four characteristics that perfectly describe former Western Colorado University (formerly known as Western State Colorado University) Mountaineer, Tom Beeson.
Tom was a two-sport student-athlete at Western from 1964-1968. He excelled in two of the most physical contact sports college had to offer, football and wrestling. However, his success was widely due to his hard work ethic.
“Tom was always a hard worker on the football team [and] I was impressed with that,” said longtime friend and former teammate, Michael Winant. “He was a tough man to block. He had extremely long arms, it was tough to get into him.”
The Denver, Colorado native found success early on in his college career. As a freshman, he was a part of the 1964 football team who helped put the Mountaineers on the national map and set the standard for all other teams to follow.
“Tom was pretty good, pretty quick,” Winant stated. “We had a coach back in the day, Coach [Kay] Dalton, who was extremely demanding. We are both extremely proud to have been part of the ‘Dalton Gang’ that went to the Mineral Water Bowl back in 1964.”
The 1964 team produced an undefeated season but fell to North Dakota State 14-13 at the Mineral Water Bowl, a small college national championship game. Tom continued to excel on the field, becoming a four-year letter winner. He was a three-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) selection as a defensive tackle and played on a total of three RMAC Championship teams from 1964-1966.
Off the football field and on the wrestling mat, Tom continued to be a dominate force for Western athletics. He was a three-year letter winner in wrestling and a heavyweight National Champion in 1966. He is one of 14 Mountaineers in program history to ever earn a national title.
“Tom is an extremely humble person; those accolades never went to his head at all,” Winant noted. “What you see is what you get with Tom Beeson. He’s sincere, he’s honest. He was a hard worker and never complained.”
Tom was also a two-time RMAC Champion (1966, 1968), and earned five All-American honors, three at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College Division and two at the University Division.
“I think people look back and know him more as a wrestler, but he was equally accomplished in both sports. I think he really had pride in both programs and how he was involved and led.”
In 1969, Tom graduated from Western, and four years later he started the first-ever wrestling program at Pomona High School (1973). He would remain the head coach until he retired in 2002, but during his coaching tenure, he guided the Panthers to two state championships (2000, 2001) and produced 17 individual state champions.
“Tom always wanted to be a teacher and a coach [and] I think that was a primary goal of his when he entered college,” Winant reminisced. “Over the years he developed Pomona into one of the best wrestling programs in the state. Tom enjoyed doing what he did for a career and he impacted multitudes of young athletes especially in wrestling…he was great educator and coach.”
Since then, Tom transitioned into a volunteer coaching position for the Panthers. He has been inducted into several hall of fames starting with the Western Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. A year later, he was inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 1998, and in 2003 and 2006, he was inducted into the Colorado High School Coaches Association (CHSCA) Hall of Fame and Jefferson County Hall of Fame, respectively. Tom earned the NCAA Division I Lifetime Achievement award in 2004 and a 40-year award for coaching at Pomona High School in 2017. His most recent induction into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame also came in 2017 as a member of the 1964 Football Team.
Tom will be honored at the 2019 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel on Friday, July 12. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.RMACSPORTS.org/HOF2019.