Tom Erikson is an assistant coach for Duke wrestling in Durham, North Carolina, and joined the Blue Devils’ staff in August 2020. A veteran coach with more than 31 years of experience, Erikson has played a key role in Duke’s development of heavyweight talent. In his fifth season on staff, he helped guide redshirt sophomore Connor Barket to the NCAA Championships after Barket posted a team-best 24 wins and rose as high as No. 17 in the national rankings. Barket had also led the team in wins the previous season with 16 as a redshirt freshman, showing significant growth after competing in only three matches during his first year. Before coming to Duke, Erikson spent five seasons as the head men’s wrestling coach at Lyon College in Arkansas and also served as the head women’s wrestling coach during his first two years there. At Lyon, he coached the program’s first NAIA All-American in Dustin Miller, mentored national qualifiers Dustin Miller and Jacob Hill, and coached Troy Mercer to an American Midwest Conference title. He also led the Scots to fifth-place finishes at the AMC Championships in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. Earlier, Erikson was an assistant coach at Hamilton Heights High School from 2012 to 2015 and spent 13 years as an assistant coach at Purdue from 1999 to 2012, where he worked extensively with the upper weights. At Purdue, he helped develop athletes such as two-time All-American Jake Vercelli and three-time NCAA qualifier Nathan Moore. His connection with Duke head coach Glen Lanham goes back even further, as the two were teammates at Oklahoma State in 1987 and later served together as assistant coaches at Purdue from 2007 to 2010.
Erikson has also been deeply involved with USA Wrestling and Team USA throughout his coaching career. He served as team leader for Team Indiana from 2004 to 2015, coached at River City Wrestling Club from 2000 to 2007, and worked with the Indianapolis Sports Corporation on the 2003 World Team Trials and 2004 Olympic Team Trials. As a competitor, Erikson is regarded as one of the top heavyweight wrestlers in U.S. history. He was a longtime member of the freestyle national team and represented the United States at the 1997 Senior Freestyle World Championships, where he placed fourth at 130 kilograms. He also was a U.S. Olympic alternate in 1988, 1992, and 1996 and competed as both an amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist in the super heavyweight division. Erikson began his college wrestling career at Triton College, where he won NJCAA titles in 1984 and 1985 before transferring to Oklahoma State. There, he became a two-time NCAA All-American in 1986 and 1987 and earned All-Big 8 Academic Team honors in 1986. He later completed a bachelor of science degree in marketing and management from Western Governors University. His accomplishments have been recognized with induction into multiple halls of fame, including those of Bloom High School Athletics, the Illinois Wrestling and Officials Association, the National Junior College Athletic Association, the Midlands Championships, and the Indiana Wrestling and Officials Association. He and his wife, Randi, have two children, Bowdie and Jadlynn.
