Jacob Harris

2019 Inductee

During Jacob Harris’s career as a student at Ridgeland from 1996 to 2000, Jacob competed in football as well as soccer, but it was in the sport of wrestling that he would cement his position as one of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in the history of Ridgeland High School, and all of Walker County Schools.  Hints of his future greatness were foreshadowed during his freshman year when he compiled a 34-9 record in the 130-pound weight class on his way to earning fourth place in region 7-AAA, qualifying for the GHSA state tournament and placing fifth in the Ohio Tournament of Champions.  During his sophomore campaign, Jacob wrestled at 135 pounds and compiled a 46-4 record on his way to placing third at the prestigious McCallie Invitational and earning the most falls for the tournament, winning the Ooltewah Tournament, winning region 7-AAA championship, and winning his first state championship.  Over the next two years, wrestling at 140 pounds and 152 pounds, Jacob amassed an amazing 90 wins and only one loss, compiling a record of 170-14.  He would win the McCallie Invitational twice, the prestigious Brett Warren Tournament twice, the Dalton Tournament twice, the Ooltewah Tournament twice, and most importantly, he won two more region and state championships.  A two-time Chattanooga Times first-team Best of Preps member and a Chattanooga Free Press first-team All-Star, Jacob was heavily courted to wrestle at the collegiate level.  His services ultimately went to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where in 2003, he would earn first-team all-Southern Conference honors, a Southern Conference championship, and an NCAA Division I qualification.  Mr Harris, following college, returned to Walker County Schools as a coach at Rossville Middle, LaFayettte Middle, and Saddle Ridge Middle.  He is the organizer of the North Georgia Wrestling League, a non-profit organization with the mission of encouraging youth participation in wrestling.  The NGWL has 14 league teams and growing six tournaments and an average participation of over 250 youth wrestlers.  It is my absolute pleasure to induct Jacob Harris into the Ridgeland Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

–Rob Stinson, 2019