The 2010 National Head Coach of the Year is Jim Morgan of Tennessee. Morgan is the head coach of the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Morgan announced his retirement following the 2009-10 season, ending a 49-year coaching career at the college and scholastic levels. As the head coach at Baylor for the past 25 years, Morgan amassed over 500 dual meet victories, six state dual team championships and 60 individual state champions. His overall record at Baylor was an impressive 539-84-1.
Before starting his tenure at Baylor School, Morgan coached a few miles down the road at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. While the head coach of the Mocs, he lead the squad to 203 dual meet victories and placed as high as third at the NCAA Division II Championships. He coached 13 All-Americans and six NCAA Division II Champions.
“I have been very fortunate in my career to be surrounded by great people. My coaching philosophy is that everyone is important, even the third or fourth string wrestlers,” said Morgan. “You never know when one of them will need to step up and be there for the team. This is my first year as a coach that I have had to forfeit a weight because we had no one that could wrestle in that spot. I want everyone to feel important and part of the team. When I was in high school, I was second string but I was there as part of the team.”
“I am blessed to have a wonderful support system throughout my coaching career at both Baylor and UTC,” said Morgan. ‘I have an extremely supportive wife, Sis, who was there for me during all of my travel and recruiting. Being a coach is a 365-day a year job and on a leap year, 366 days. You never want to miss a chance to make your team better. My wife is my number one cheerleader and for that I am very blessed.”
Morgan is also a chemistry teacher at the Baylor School.
“Coach Morgan is a great example of the type of coach that the NWCA wants to recognize. He has spent his years educating young men in the classroom and on the wrestling mat. His record and years of service speak for them self,” said Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director.
“Our goal as a coaches association is to continue to recognize coaches for their outstanding accomplishments, especially when they are closely aligned with an educationally based athletics philosophy.”
The National Assistant Coach of the Year honors are being awarded to two very deserving men who have spent a combined 63 years teaching the sport of wrestling. Coach Mike Shuda of Arcadia High School in Wisconsin and Dalen Wasmund of Apple Valley High School in Minnesota will share this year’s award.
Coach Shuda has been coaching for 35 years and has coached 17 consecutive undefeated junior varsity teams along with 15 individual state champions. He has dedicated his career to not only coaching wrestling but also football, girls basketball and track along with molding young minds a teacher in many subjects including: Math, Physics, and Computer Science.
“I believe that the best teachers are coaches and the best coaches are teachers. Athletes develop a respect for the coach and that carries into the classroom. They know that they will learn from you and we know what our expectations of the athletes/students are. We hold them to a higher caliber,” Coach Shuda said. “Coaching wrestling is amazing and there is no other sport like it.”
Shuda credits his coaching longevity to having good head coaches involved in the program, noting that it is much easier to stay when you are surrounded by such great people.
“Receiving this award to me is an amazing accomplishment. Many of the people I admire and look up to have previously won this award. We are currently fighting to get my college program (River Falls) back, and this is a great start,” said Coach Shuda.
Coach Wasmund has been coaching for 28 years at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota. He briefly left the school, but returned when his sons began wrestling, coming back aboard to also serve as their coach.
Wasmund stated, “I am honored and fortunate to be in this position. Receiving an award like this is a result of having a great program, great coaches, great families, a supportive administration and a great support system. We bear the fruits of having things go well.”
The 2010 Apple Valley Wrestling Team completed their season with seven champions, two runners-up, a third-place finisher and a fifth-place finisher at the AAA Individual State Tournament. Since Coach Wasmund has been coaching at Apple Valley, they have won the State Championship 18 times. He joins head coach Jim Jackson as an NWCA Award Winner. Jackson was the 2008 NWCA National Head Coach of the Year.
“Both of these coaches had given a large amount of their time to the success of their high school programs, both on and off the mat. They are examples of strong leaders who are committed to educational principles,” said NWCA President Jim Beichner.
Nick Moore of Iowa City West High School in Iowa, receives this year’s National Senior Wrestler of the Year Award. Finishing off his senior campaign with a 52-0 record and a career record of 183-1, he earned the title of four-time State Champion. He joined an elite group of wrestlers to win four state titles, as he was the 19th wrestler in the history of the Iowa State Tournament to do so.
He capped off his high school career with 147 straight wins and is the most decorated wrestler in school history. He also finished with 110 career falls. Ranked 12th by InterMatWrestle.com, Moore will be attending the University of Iowa, joining older brother Nate, next year as he transitions to collegiate wrestling.
“Nick Moore is an exceptional athlete who is dedicated his life to wrestling. We look forward to watching him continue to pursue his academic and athletic goals in college and hopefully, one day as a coach,” said Moyer.
All of the National and Regional Award Winners will be honored at the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships in Philadelphia.
We would also like to recognize the award recipients of the NWCA Regional Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Senior Wrestlers of the Year. In order to be considered for National Honors, the nominee must have been selected as a Regional Award Winner:
Region Award Type Nominee School (State)
1 Assistant Coach of the Year John Farrelman Penfield HS (NY)
1 Head Coach of the Year Pat Conners South Jefferson HS (NY)
1 Wrestler of the Year Jimmy Lawson Manchester TWP HS (NJ)
2 Assistant Coach of the Year Mike Kallai Sr Wadsworth HS (OH)
2 Head Coach of the Year John Gramuglia Wadsworth HS (OH)
2 Wrestler of the Year Marshall Peppleman Central Dauphin HS (PA)
3 Assistant Coach of the Year David Henson Gilmer County HS (GA)
3 Head Coach of the Year Jim Morgan The Baylor School(TN)
3 Wrestler of the Year Cameron Croy Brentwood HS (TN)
4 Assistant Coach of the Year Mike Shuda Arcadia HS (WI)
4 Head Coach of the Year Rick Caldwell Waverly Shell-Rock HS (IA)
4 Wrestler of the Year Nick Moore Iowa City West HS (IA)
5 Assistant Coach of the Year Dalen Wasmund Apple Valley HS (MN)
5 Head Coach of the Year Bill Erneste Park Hill HS (MO)
5 Wrestler of the Year Alan Waters Park Hill HS (MO)
6 Assistant Coach of the Year Ronnie Delk Perry HS (OK)
6 Head Coach of the Year Doug Duell Burlington HS (CO)
6 Wrestler of the Year Louis Trujillo Rio Rancho HS (NM)
7 Assistant Coach of the Year Dan Mills Laguna Hills HS (CA)
7 Head Coach of the Year Bryan Smith Moon Valley HS (AZ)
7 Wrestler of the Year Cory Ryak Finch Safford HS (AZ)
8 Assistant Coach of the Year Doug Tovey Roseburg HS (OR)
8 Head Coach of the Year Mike Leck North Fremont HS (ID)
8 Wrestler of the Year Derek Garcia Olympia HS (WA)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now