Moore has been a staple in Kansas wrestling, especially in Concordia where he coached the Panthers from 1981-2014, leading them to state championship wins in 1988 and 1995.
The former junior high English teacher retired in 2019. But he had no plans of remaining idle.
"What interested me the most about this job at Cloud County is, first off, I'm retired now and have the flexibility to do something like this," Moore said. "Second was my lifelong love of wrestling. After being involved with wrestling for 38 years, it's one of those things that's hard to completely give up. This was a perfect opportunity for me to stay involved and there's the added plus of getting to work with college student-athletes who are already coming in knowing the basics."
Doug MooreHe finished his high school coaching career with an overall dual record of 206-95-3 and has already been named to the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2004) and National Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame (2008).
Prior to his coaching career, Moore was a former NJCAA wrestler at McCook Community College before wrestling three years at Fort Hays State University from 1973-76 where he'd go on to earn a bachelor's degree and master's degree in Human Health and Performance.
"I thought it was important to find somebody with a wealth of knowledge and who has been around the sport long enough that they can bring value to our program," said Cloud County head coach, Cody Cole. "With Coach Moore, we're bringing in a Hall of Fame coach who has wrestled at our level (NJCAA) and Fort Hays, one of the two Division II programs in Kansas. I also like the academic piece. Coach Moore has been a teacher for many years and I think he'll be able to come in and help mentor these guys academically, as well."
Moore has already displayed some of that mentorship and wealth of knowledge in his previous role as a volunteer coach for the T-Birds since the program's inaugural season in 2017-18.
Last winter, Cloud County made major strides as it finished 14th overall as a team at the NJCAA Wrestling Championships, qualifying nine wrestlers for nationals and producing the program's first two NJCAA All-Americans in Austin Eldredge and Noah Aziere.
"I think the program is in great shape having two All-Americans already in just two years of existence," Moore said. "Quite frankly, that's obviously the way you get your name out there is by having those individual athletes accomplish something like that. I think it's amazing what has been accomplished here so far in two years and I think it'll only continue to grow."
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