One of Northern Minnesota's great coaches was Noel Bailey.

This longtime Aitkin coach is a well known name in Minnesota high school wrestling.

A native of Aitkin, Bailey grew up on a small 200 acre dairy farm in Palisade, population 120. He attended a two-room school house for eight years before attending Aitkin High School.

Noel went on to compete at Bemidji State College where he wrestled from 1959 to 1963 under legendary coach Chet Anderson. He had a career college record of 61-13-1 and served as team captain for three years. He won the Northern Intercollegiate Conference titles in 1961, 1962 and 1963.

Noel played football and wrestled at Aitkin. He said he wrestled because the football coach wanted all his players to wrestle. In his first four matches he got pinned, wrestling at 112 pounds. He started working out and built himself to 155 pounds the next season. He couldn't beat the 154, 165, and 175 pounders so he wrestled heavyweight (No weight restrictions in those days) He went 5-5 and placed second in District. As a junior, Bailey went undefeated until the state tournament, where he placed fourth at 165 pounds. As a senior he went on to place second in state, losing 5-1 to the legendary Julian Hook of Robbinsdale High School.

After graduating from Bemidji State, Bailey took a teaching position at Sauk Rapids High School, from 1963 to 1972. He returned to his alma mater Aitkin in 1972-73 and coached until 1996. After seven years off he returned to coach for two years in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

His career coaching record totaled 269-149-1. His 1988 team won the Section 8 title and his teams captured eleven District titles, three Mid-State Conference titles and he coached 29 individual place winners at state, with one state champion in Jason Math in 1985.

Bailey says, "the success of the Aitkin High School wrestling program is because of the wrestlers who sacrificed other "things', the very supportive parents, the great assistant coaches, and great fans. I was very fortunate to be a part of this great program."

Coaching honors for Bailey were District Coach of the Year four times (1983, 1987, 1988 and 1992) Region Coach of the Year in 1988 and Minnesota Coach of the Year in 1988.

Other honors are induction into the Minnesota State High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 1988, the Bemidji State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Dave Bartelma - Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1993.

Noel also served as president of the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association, and helped with the 1985 Minnesota versus Iowa All-Star Wrestling Classic. He received the MWCA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

One year Aitkin had a proclamation by the mayor proclaiming "Noel Bailey Day."

Noel also officiated wrestling at the high school and college levels from 1963 to 1974. He was honored by serving as an official at the 1974 NAIA National Championships. He also officiated the 1993 Minnesota versus Wisconsin All-Star Wrestling Classic.

Other positions held by Bailey were president of the Riverwood Health Care Hospital Auxiliary, member of the Riverwood Hospital Foundation Board, trustee of United Methodist Church and trustee at Lakeview Cemetery Association.

Noel credits his assistants for much of the success his program had.

"Coaching any sport is not just one person doing the coaching."

Some of Bailey's assistants were Bob Lake, Kevin Lamke and Dan Stifter. Stifter later as head coach went on to bring Aitkin to three state tournament appearances.

Stifter says, "Noel Bailey is the kind of person who represents the attributes that we as educators, coaches, parents and community members should emulate."

Two of Bailey's wrestlers have gone on to successful coaching careers with Tom Gruhlke at BOLD, who won a state team title, and Darrel Skog at Meadow Creek Christian, who had a team in the state tournament.

The Bailey family includes wife Alma, and children Todd Roden, Terry Roden, Becky Roden, Dawn Bailey and Lance Bailey.