WAVERLY - Jim Miller was a fan of venerable Veterans Auditorium.

His fondness for "The Barn" grew when his son, T.J., qualified for the state tournament twice for Cedar Falls high school in 2002 and 2003.

"I used to be able to go up real high somewhere, sit down and kind of hide … do my squirming where nobody could see me," said Miller, the five-time national champion coach at Wartburg College.

Imagine how Miller felt a year ago when his seat, just before T.J.'s 197-pound Division III championship match for Wartburg, was roughly 10 feet from the action.

"I was a wreck," exclaimed Miller. "Didn't want to be a wreck … didn't plan on being a wreck. I didn't think it would be that much different. But it was different. I didn't think it was that noticeable, but from what people told me, I guess it was pretty evident."

It wasn't the first time Miller had been in T.J.'s corner, but this was a special situation. Not many fathers get to coach their sons in a national championship match.

In fact, according to area wrestling historians, only two head coaches - Rex Peery at Pittsburgh and Larry Kristoff at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville - have coached their sons to national titles.

Peery guided his sons, Hugh and Ed, to six national titles at Pittsburgh between 1952 and '57, while Kristoff led his sons, Kip and Mark, to Division II titles in 1987 and 1988.

T.J. added Jim's name to the list with an 11-2 victory over Buena Vista's Ben Strandberg at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque and will be favored to repeat this week when the Division III national tournament gets started Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

"That was the greatest moment I've ever had in wrestling," said Jim. "People asked me to compare it to my championships, and it's not comparable. I don't know why it is, but that was the greatest moment I've had in wrestling."

Future soccer star

It wasn't a given that T.J. would grow up to be a wrestler, let alone a successful high school or collegiate wrestler.

Jim wanted it be T.J.'s decision to wrestle and wasn't willing to push his sport of choice on his son.

Therefore, T.J. was active, athletically, as a youth.

"I liked to play a variety of sports," explained T.J. "I was really big into soccer, baseball, football and even basketball. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I didn't know if wrestling was for me."

By the time T.J. reached seventh grade, he had narrowed down his sports of interest to soccer, baseball and wrestling. It was about the same time some of his closest friends - Brock Jensen and Nick Beuter - started wrestling seriously.

Now T.J. had friends involved, and it didn't take long for him to become completely hooked. Once high school came around, Miller concentrated exclusively on wrestling.

"He was a pretty talented soccer player," said Jim. "Honestly, I still think his best sport may have been soccer.

"But I always wanted it to be his choice to wrestle. Obviously, I think he made the right choice."

With Jim constantly busy with his duties as head coach at Wartburg, T.J. actually credits Doug Jensen, Brock's father, as the catalyst behind his wrestling career.

"My dad couldn't be there all the time because he was busy," explained T.J. "Doug was kind of like my coach throughout high school. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would've gotten hooked on wrestling."

Where are you going to college, boy?

T.J. grew into a solid wrestler at Cedar Falls High, eventually becoming a two-time state placewinner - fourth at 160 as a junior and sixth at 171 as a senior.

He was good enough that college coaches started calling the Miller household.

"That was kind of odd," said Jim. "We had other Iowa Conference coaches calling the house because we live in Cedar Falls, and I'm sure they didn't make the connection. My wife gave me the phone once, and it was another Iowa Conference coach. That coach was like, 'T.J.'s your son?' Eventually, I said, 'I don't think he is probably coming there.'"

While Jim was confident T.J. wouldn't end up at a rival Iowa Conference school, he wasn't sure where his son would attend college.

T.J. kept his dad dangling in the wind, although he says his dad should have recognized any number of signs.

The younger Miller idolized many of the Knights' stars - Tom Smith, Jamal Fox and Ben Shane. He'd also been to numerous Iowa Conference and Division III national tournaments by the time he was a senior in high school.

"I knew I wanted to come to Wartburg the whole time. I just never said it," recalled T.J. "I kept it from him. Finally, it was summer after I graduated and he said, 'Where do you want to go to college?'

"I said, 'Wartburg' and that, 'I always thought you knew it.' But I guess he didn't."

The coach's son

Last year's national championship victory certainly was a special moment for the Millers, but the father-son relationship during T.J.'s five years at Wartburg hasn't always been a bed of roses.

That was not unexpected.

T.J., like his mother, Kathy, is a free spirit. Jim is detail-oriented.

"Oh my God, I thought he was picking on me at times," exclaimed T.J., who finished fourth nationally in 2006 after backing up former Wartburg stars Scott Kauffman and Akeem Carter his first two years on campus. "I think it was my sophomore year. I rented a house with a couple of other guys, and he would walk right into the house, wake me up and ask if I worked out. I totally hated it.

"One day in particular, it was like noon, and I was taking a nap. He came in, woke me up and was mad I hadn't worked out yet. I eventually got up, got my shoes and workout clothes on and walked outside. He was sitting about a block away watching my front door to see if I was going to follow through on the workout."

Jim admits to making some mistakes along the way.

"T.J. is a pretty free spirit and doesn't worry nearly as much as I do," said Jim. "I've struggled with that. But I think his mom has done a good job of trying to separate the wrestling from home life because I've got blinders on way too much."

As much as it appears T.J. is different, he says he's a lot like his dad, however.

"Sometimes I don't look at life as serious as he does, I guess," said T.J. "I think sometimes that is a good thing. But I also think I got a lot of my work ethic characteristics from him. That also is a good thing."

T.J. never expected to get special treatment from his dad, either.

"I think when I got here, the guys knew I didn't think I was anything special because I was the coach's son," said T.J. "That is the last thing I wanted to be known as … I wanted my own name, and I think everyone knew that."

One last hurrah

This week T.J. would like nothing more than to add another individual crown to his resume and help his dad secure a sixth team championship.

No matter how it works out, T.J. knows he wouldn't have done anything differently.

"This has definitely been a great experience," he said. "In high school, we were both gone somewhere most of the time. Now that we are together all the time, I definitely think we're a lot closer than we've ever been. "

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com