2023 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee
Four trips to the state high school wrestling tournament with 3 state championships, followed by a NCAA Division I title, international freestyle wrestling bouts overseas and now a successful veteran college coach is the legacy of Cliff Moore. Despite all his successes, Moore admits he hadn’t really set out to make wrestling a career and explained “it just simply becomes your calling.”
Moore saw early success for his Dubuque Hempstead team when he made it to the 103-pound championship only to lose for the second time that year. Both those losses were to Iowa City’s Joe Lucchi and were the only two losses Moore suffered as a high school wrestler. As a sophomore Moore won the 112-pound 3A title followed by the 119-pound title as a junior. He finished off high school with his third undefeated season in a row with a 125-pound state title. Back in the days when 100 high school wins was an accomplishment, Moore finished with a 139-2 record.
Moore then went to the University of Iowa where he wrestled for 1994 IWHOF Inductee, Coach Jim Zalesky. During his redshirt freshman year, Moore notched a 17-3 record followed by a 28-10 sophomore season and his first All-American honors with a sixth-place finish at 133 pounds. Moore then finished his junior year with another sixth-place finish at the same weight with an impressive 31-9 record and a Big Ten title.
Moore moved up to 141 pounds his senior year where he went 33-2 after defeating Matt Murray of Nebraska 5-2 for his national title. He finished at Iowa by winning 20 straight matches. He ended his remarkable college career with a 109-24 record, two Big Ten titles, three All-American honors and a NCAA Division I championship.
Moore stayed with the Iowa wrestling program for two more years as a strength and conditioning coach one year and Administrative Assistant his second year. During that time Moore placed third at the World Team Trials at 60 kg. That placing allowed him to wrestle for the 2006 USA Freestyle National Team.
From there Moore spent 12 years at Edinboro, helping Coach Tim Flynn build the Fighting Scots into a wrestling powerhouse. His specialty was working with lighter weights, as he helped produce two NCAA champions, seven NCAA finalists and 21 All-Americans.
In 2018 Moore was named assistant coach at West Virginia where he has helped the Mountaineers program show steady improvement and success. This past year (2023) the Mountaineers had six NCAA qualifiers with one earning All-American honors. That All-American placing made it a school record with four straight years with at least one All-American for the program. The previous two years also saw the Mountaineers qualifying four for the NCAA championships.
Moore was inducted in the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2023 along with Ken Gallagher, Dan McCool and Jason Christenson.
Additional Honors & Achievements
2003 John and Dorothy Sill Award winner, given to Iowa’s most dedicated wrestler
Inductee of the IHSSA Wrestling Hall of Fame
Inductee of the Hempstead High School Hall of Fame
High School
Record139-2-0
1996 103-pound state runner-up
1997 112-pound state champion
1998 119-pound state champion
1999 125-pound state champion
College
CoachJim Zalesky
Record109-24-0
2002 sixth 133-pound NCAA
2003 sixth 133-pound NCAA, Big Ten Champion
2004 141-pound NCAA Champion, Big Ten Champion