Jose TangumaBoth Tanguma and Foster bring a strong combination of wide-ranging experience and solid connections within the region to build the only intercollegiate wrestling programs for men and women in Eastern Washington State.
Tanguma, involved in wrestling locally since 2000, won state titles for Warden High School in the 103, 112 and 119-pound weight classes and continued his wrestling career at North Idaho College. He has coached wrestlers as part of the Warden middle and high school programs since 2013 and spent the last year as the assistant wrestling coach at Moses Lake High School.
"I am very excited that Big Bend is bring wrestling back to the Columbia Basin as a college sport and I am honored that I have been chosen to be the men's head wrestling coach," Tanguma said. "We are located in the perfect spot for student-athletes around the area to continue furthering their education and to continue their passion for the sport of wrestling. I am looking forward to helping build a strong program for BBCC."
Foster, a 2007 South Dakota high school state champion, is the owner and head trainer at Fit Ephrata and carries a certification from the U.S. Academy of Weightlifting and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Foster has served as the strength, conditioning and wellness director at Southern Virginia University and spent the past year as the head coach of the Ephrata Middle School wrestling team.
"I am grateful for this opportunity to help Big Bend incorporate women's wrestling into its athletic program and look forward to working with them to achieve success both on and off the wrestling mat," Foster said.
"This area has many great wrestlers that leave high school and are not able to continue wrestling because of little opportunity -- especially in women's wrestling," Foster continued. "This addition at Big Bend will be so beneficial for these student-athletes to get the chance to have the complete college experience and further their careers, and now I get to be a part of that."
Mark Poth, Big Bend Athletics Director, realizes the challenges of starting a women's wrestling program from scratch -- and in the case of the men's program, essentially from scratch, as the last time the school had interscholastic wrestling was nearly a quarter-century ago.
"We believe that we have made two excellent choices to lead Big Bend's wrestling program back into existence," said Poth. "Both of these guys have solid wrestling backgrounds themselves, are former champions in their own right, and are embedded in the Columbia Basin wrestling scene. We hope to leverage their current relationships in an effort to build a successful program here at Big Bend."
Both the men and women will compete collegiately in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) with the women also competing in the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA).
Big Bend Community College is a two-year public college located in Moses Lake, Washington. Founded in 1962, Big Bend CC has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students.
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