A pillar of his community for over three decades, Mark Sawicki was an educator and coach in the West Jefferson school district in eastern Idaho, which is located in an area of the state with a significant agricultural presence. Mark’s passion for teaching and coaching had a deep and lasting impact on his students, athletes, and community he represented. Graduating from the University of Providence in Montana, Mark began his teaching  and coaching career at West Jefferson High School where in a span of thirty-two years he produced many top level teams and wrestlers. For instance, he coached several individual state champions, multiple time winners, and 152 state medalists overall in the small school division. Additionally, Mark’s teams performed very well at the state level, where the Panthers brought home several top four team trophies, which included winning the State Championships in 1995. Moreover, Mark earned approximately 300 dual meet wins in his career in addition to coaching several wrestlers that earned medals at national level competitions, as well as go onto earn All-American honors at the collegiate level. On top of that, Mark enjoyed spending time on the gridiron where he was a defensive coordinator for the football teams spanning twelve years and announced at games. As a result of his dedication and commitment to his athletes and students, Mark received several Coach-of-the-Year awards, which include District VI (2x), Idaho State Association, 2A State, and Teacher-of-the-Year in 1999.  Since retiring as the coach at West Jefferson in 2018, Mark has remained active as a major supporter of the wrestling program, assisting at local competitions, as well as working at the state tournament.