Jason Ramstetter
Head Coach

Entering his 21st year as Adams State University’s head wrestling coach, Jason Ramstetter has guided the Grizzly program to be consistently one of the best in the entire country. In his illustrious career, Ramstetter has coached 30 individuals to 58 NCAA Division II All-Americans and ten national champions.  With these individual performances, the Grizzlies finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Division II National Championships seven straight times from 2003-09, including fifth place finishes in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The success has also been evident at the conference level as Grizzly wrestlers have combined to win 20 individual RMAC and regional titles while qualifying 74 total wrestlers for the NCAA Division II National Tournament, including all 10 in 2005.  As a team, the Grizzlies have placed as high as second at the RMAC Championships conference on three occasions (2005, 2006 & 2009).

For his efforts, Ramstetter, has been named as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Colorado Chapter’s Colorado Collegiate Coach of the Year record five times (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 & 2022) and was named as the Colorado Collegiate Coach of the Year in 2004 after the Grizzlies won the state title.

The 2021-22 season was stellar as three Grizzlies made it to nationals for only the third time in school history, three Grizzlies won national titles with Jonathan Andreatta (133 pounds), Noah Hermosillo (149 pounds) and Josiah Rider (157 pounds). Hermosillo was named the Colorado Wrestler of the Year while Ramstetter was named the NWCA Division II National Tournament Coach of the Year as voted by his peers.

In 2020-21, the Grizzlies had two All-Americans as Noah Hermosillo (sixth) and Isaiah De La Cerda (seventh).

The 2018-19 campaign was a huge leap forward for a historically proud program under Ramstetter's lead. After two down years in a row, recruiting and training would pay off, as the Grizzlies were within one match of winning a share of the conference title. Finishing third in the RMAC, the talented Grizzlies had one of the best team scores in the country, and again took five to nationals. Those five were Jonathan Andreatta, Noah Hermosillo, Dylan Udero, Koery Windham and Khalil Gipson, four of whom plan to return to a loaded 2020 team.

In 2016-17, and 2017-18 with the Grizzlies looking to rebuild and regroup, the results may have not been there in the win column, but the future was incredibly bright. In 2017, they qualified two athletes for the national meet in Birmingham, AL, Darek Huff and Martin Ramirez, and had a plethora of up and comers moving forward. In 2018, the Grizzlies would take five athletes to nationals, Darek Huff, Dylan Udero, Natrelle Demison, Koery Windham, and Dakota Bencomo, four of which would return to the team for the 2019 season.

A tough 2015-16 season had its positive moments. Martin Ramirez won an RMAC championship, received All-American and All-RMAC honors, and posted a 30-9 overall record on his way to an 8th place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships. Devin Vasquez and Ian Wingstrom were also named to the RMAC All-Academic honor roll for the season.

The squad has also been a matter of consistency in the national polls and has been ranked amongst the top 20 of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II Rankings for an incredible 65 straight polls from the final poll of the 2000-01 season, his second with the Grizzlies, through the end of the 2009-10 campaign.

Ramstetter has defeated every current RMAC foe that the Grizzlies have dualed at least once. The Grizzlies went 11-1 overall and 9-0 in RMAC duals in 2007-08 winning Adams State’s first RMAC dual meet crown in 18 years while posting the team’s best overall dual meet mark since 1982.

The Grizzlies have also shined in regular season tournaments winning the Midwest Classic title in both 2007 and 2008 after sharing the title in 2003 after claiming in-state bragging rights by winning the now disbanded Colorado Collegiate team title in 2004.

For his efforts, Ramstetter, has been named as the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Colorado Chapter’s Colorado Collegiate Coach of the Year a co-record four times (2003, 2005, 2007 & 2008) and was named as the Colorado Collegiate Coach of the Year in 2004 after the Grizzlies won the state title.

A native of Alamosa, Ramstetter was a 3-time Colorado State Champion at Alamosa High School, where he wrestled for his father Gary and graduated from in 1992. Ramstetter would go onto a successful wrestling career at Division I Cal State-Bakersfield. He was a 2-time runner-up at the Pac-10 Championships in the 142-pound weight class. He qualified for the National Tournament both times and placed fifth in 1997, his senior, year to earn All-America honors.

Ramstetter was a key member of the Division I third-placed Roadrunner team in 1996 and earned his degree in history in 1997. After his wrestling career, he would serve as an assistant coach for the Roadrunners for two years and would also serve as CSU-Bakersfield's strength coach for the football and wrestling teams.

Ramstetter is quite active in the sport of wrestling as a whole and directs the Cool Sunshine Wrestling Camp held each summer in Plachy Hall and also travels around the country in the summer assisting with several other prestigious summer camps and clinics.

In his free time, Ramstetter enjoys riding his motorcycle and playing video games.