One-on-One with Bill Demaray

Bill Demaray is the mastermind behind the Apple Valley High School wrestling dynasty. Demaray, who won two NCAA titles at North Dakota State as a competitor, came to Apple Valley in 1976 to become the program's first head wrestling coach. What transpired over the next 20 years following Demaray's arrival at Apple Valley is nothing short of amazing. He compiled a dual meet record of 407-70-4 and guided the Eagles to six state titles.

Bill Demaray came to Apple Valley in 1976 to become the program's first head wrestling coach (Photo/The Guillotine)

After the 1995 season, Demaray resigned as head coach to become an assistant coach at Apple Valley, handing the reins over to Jim Jackson. Since Demaray's arrival at Apple Valley, the program has captured 16 state team titles.

Demaray was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year. In 1995, he was named National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year by Wrestling USA Magazine. He is a member of the North Dakota State University Hall of Fame and Dave Bartelma (Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association) Hall of Fame.

RevWrestling.com recently caught up with the Minnesota coaching legend and talked to him about building a wrestling dynasty, his son (Matt Demaray), Jim Jackson, Charlie Falck, Destin McCauley, and much more.

When you first came to Apple Valley High School in 1976, did you ever in envision that the wrestling program could become such a dynasty?

Demaray: Our goal from the very beginning was to develop a program that would be able to compete at a national level with the best teams in the country.

In your opinion, what are the most important ingredients when building a wrestling program?

Demaray: There are actually a lot of factors that go into it. From the beginning, our philosophy was that we wanted to include as many people as we could in the development process. That included people in the high school, like administrators, but also getting parents involved … developing a program that is designed to give kids an opportunity to compete, learn, and have fun. I think those three ingredients are key in developing a real successful program.

What is the hardest part about staying on top as a team?

Demaray: For me, I don't look at it that way. I look at more as every year is a new year. You need to do the things that are good for kids. Usually if kids are learning, they are excited about what they are doing. That creates excitement and makes it fun for them and their parents. As a result, the success kind of takes care of itself. I think sometimes people get hung up on setting a goal to win a state championship or national championship. In reality, their goal should be to develop a program that is there for the kids to learn and enjoy. The success really takes care of itself. I think when you start looking at it like, ‘I want to do this' or ‘I want to do that' … although you have those long-term goals, you need to take it in smaller increments and take it one day at a time. Ultimately, when you do that, kids will have the success. And then you will be able to advance to a high level.

Is there another coach that you admire?

Demaray: There are a lot of people that I admire. You always try to look at people who are at the top of the echelon. When I was competing, Dan Gable was having a lot of success. He had a lot of success as an athlete and then went on to have success as a coach. So I guess if I had to say one person, I would have to say Dan Gable. He was more my generation.

You won two national titles as a competitor at North Dakota State. Compare the feeling of accomplishing your goals as a wrestler to accomplishing your goals as a coach.

As a competitor, Bill Demaray won two national titles for North Dakota State

Demaray: I'm pretty competitive at heart. I love competition. For me, the National Championships were great … because they were a challenge and I was competing. So winning the individual national titles were great, but they were of an individual thing. The competition is what I enjoyed more so than anything. As a coach, the rewards in coaching aren't necessarily the final level that you achieve. It's more being involved, giving back, helping people with their lives, and helping them develop into outstanding young people that are there to help other people. If you help someone, then hopefully they'll hopefully turn around and help someone. For me, the state championships and what we have done in the coaching part of it has been probably more rewarding just because of the fact that I really feel that philosophically where we're at as a staff is to help people become young men.

Your son, Matt Demaray, is arguably the greatest wrestler to ever come out of Minnesota. He was a three-time state champion, two-time NCAA champion, and four-time U.S. Nationals champion in freestyle. What made Matt so successful?

Demaray: Well, he had a lot of attributes. He was a student of the sport. He always wanted to learn. He enjoyed the competition and challenges. I think those things were all attributes. But he actually developed a philosophy. His philosophy, and I believe this too, is that the key to success is improvement on a daily basis and having the discipline to do that. He was able to not only understand that philosophy, but also implement that philosophy. Regardless of how you do in a given match, if every day you're continually getting a little bit better over a long period of time, you're going to be very successful … if you're able to handle the discipline of working on a daily basis and spending the time that needs to be spent. The outcome in the long term will allow you to achieve a lot of success. Philosophically, that's where he was at, especially at the college level and international level. With his talent and work ethtic, and the fact that he was a student of the sport and able to develop that philosophy, it all translated into success.

During Matt's senior season of high school in 1987, he lost to Derek Jones in the state quarterfinals in one of the all-time classic matches in Minnesota high school wrestling history. What do you remember most about that match?

Demaray: That was difficult match, probably more so for me than him. For me, I was really proud of him just because of the way he handled the loss. We always tell our kids that there are always bigger and better things ahead. You just need to learn from whatever you are faced with. If you're successful and you win, that's great. Shake your opponent's hand and be cordial. If you lose, be a good sport and remember that there is always tomorrow. For Matt, I think he handled that really well. It was obviously a big disappointment for him. But in reality, I think he used that as a steppingstone to help himself improve and excel at the next level. People get hung up on losing and lose control. I think the most important thing is that when you lose, that you learn from your loss. I think in Matt's instance, he evaluated the match and he knew that he was going to go on. He was able to use it as a steppingstone. I was really proud of the way he handled that. He did a good job of controlling his emotions.

After the 1995 season, you resigned from your position as head coach at Apple Valley to become the assistant coach under Jim Jackson. What caused you to make that decision?

Demaray: Well, for me, I enjoyed my role as head coach. But I always felt that Jim was anxious, ready, and capable of wanting to have that same challenge that I had when I was younger. There were a lot of factors involved. I just thought it was a good time. I still wanted to continue on and work with kids. For the program to be successful, there was a lot of time that needed to be spent in the community, setting up programs and working with parents. Matt was competing internationally, so I wanted to be able to watch him. There were a lot of factors. I thought the timing was good. I thought Jim was ready. I felt the program wouldn't miss a beat. And as a result, it didn't. He has done an outstanding job. So I would just say it was good timing and a number of different reasons.

You have worked alongside Jim Jackson for many years. Jim was the 2008 NWCA Scholastic National Head Coach of the Year. His coaching resume certainly speaks for itself. But what is something most people in wrestling do not know about Jim Jackson?

Jim Jackson

Demaray: Well, this might not answer your question, but he's really competitive. He's probably as competitive as I am. I think the thing that people probably don't know about him, or maybe they do this about him, is that he just loves the sport of wrestling. He can tell you who is wrestling at what colleges as far as their lineups go. He just loves the sport. He loves the competition. He loves working with kids. He loves a lot of attributes that the sport of wrestling provides.

What would mean more to the program this season, winning The Clash against several nationally-ranked teams, including St. Edward (Ohio), or winning the state title? Do you think about it like that?

Demaray: You know, I really don't. But if I had to pick, I would say winning the state championship. Our goal, as I mentioned, is to learn. If I had any advice to give to younger coaches it would be to not get hung up on the winning aspect of it. It's much more than that. The winning and losing kind of takes care of itself. What you have to do as a coach is prepare your kids and get them to be better every time they step on the mat. Ultimately, your goal should be to be the best you can be at the end of the season. You want to peak at the end of the season. The only way you can do that is by learning not only by the things you are doing right, but also learning from your mistakes or your losses. We tell our kids, the only thing that really matters is the end of the season when you're supposed to be at your best. It's always fun to compete against the nationally-ranked teams. But as a team, we're always at our best at the end of the season. At least we try to be. It's fun to go to The Clash and wrestle St. Ed's, Montini, and some of those teams, but I would have to say winning the state tournament would mean more.

Over the years, several talented wrestlers have transferred to Apple Valley because of the program's success. As someone who built the program, does it bother you when people accuse Apple Valley of recruiting?

Bill Demaray compiled a dual meet record of 407-70-4 and guided Apple Valley to six state titles. He was twice named Minnesota State Coach of the Year. In 1995, he was named National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year by Wrestling USA Magazine (Photo/The Guillotine)

Demaray: That's a really good question. I have to be honest with you. I have struggled with that a lot of times. As a coach, you work hard, try to do the best you can, and you try to develop a program that is good for kids where they can learn and have fun. You do that, and as a result, people are interested in coming to your program. As a coach, our job is to coach and teach whoever is in our program. We don't really control who comes into the program. If a kid is there, it's our responsibility to teach him and coach him. So it has always been difficult for me. It's human nature to always want the favored team to get beat. I understand that. That's not a problem. But it's when they attack people like Jim personally … it's difficult for me just because I think that's not appropriate. People need to know that all we're doing is working hard and helping our kids to be the best they can be. When the program is having a lot of success, people are interested in transferring and moving. They will look at what kind of programs are in that area. I would do that as a parent too. I would take a look at where my son or daughter would have an opportunity to excel. We have been blessed by families choosing Apple Valley.

It's disappointing when people belittle other programs for the success they've had. But I understand. It kind of goes with the territory. How do I feel about it? Sometimes I look at it as a compliment … depending on how it's done. It depends on what they are doing and how they are saying it. It really does. If people are admiring you or if they are belittling you. In reality, you really can't worry about that because you can't control it. You can only work hard and try to make good decisions for your kids. And like I said, we're going to work with whoever is in our program. We just try to help the kids in our program the best we can. For me, it's all about learning and getting better. You work hard. And it's disappointing sometimes because people can be really cruel. It's really sad when people pick out kids and because they are from Apple Valley, they get undo attention or booed. Kids will ask, "Why do they hate us?" or "Why do they say the things that they say?" We just tell them we really can't control that. That's just human nature. You just work hard, do the best you can, and good things will happen.

Taking your son, Matt Demaray, out of the equation, who is the best wrestler you have ever coached at Apple Valley?

Demaray: Wow. That's a tough question. There have obviously been quite a few kids that have been very talented. You always get into these debates, well, who is the best? Even with my son, Matt. People have discussed, is he one of the better wrestlers ever to come out of Minnesota? My answer is always, take a look at the accomplishments and make your decision based on accomplishments. It's so subjective otherwise. If you're talking high school wrestlers, Chad Erikson was a four-time state champion. Charlie Falck was a four-time state champion. Richard Fessler was a three-time state champion. Matt (Demaray) was a three-time state champion. If you're looking at the best high school wrestler who has come out of Apple Valley, I would say look at the accomplishments and it would either have to be Chad Erikson or Charlie Falck.

Speaking of Charlie Falck, he enters his senior season at the University of Iowa ranked No. 3 in the country at 125 pounds. Last season, he defeated NCAA champion Angel Escobedo of Indiana during the regular season. Have you been able to watch him much throughout his college career? And if so, what is it going to take for Charlie to bring home a national title this season?

Demaray: Yeah, I have watched Charlie quite a bit in college. He's obviously a very talented wrestler. When you get to that level, it's a lot more competitive and there is not as big of a difference in abilities. In Division I, there might be five, six, seven, or eight kids in a weight class in any given year that are capable of winning it. A lot of times it just comes down to little things like attitude or work ethic. Charlie is definitely talented enough. He has the athletic ability to win it. He has beaten the best out there. He needs to work really hard. And I'm sure at Iowa with Brands and everybody there, that won't be a problem. He's going to be in the hunt. Sometimes one of the biggest negatives is that kids have a fear of losing. When you have a fear of losing, that just adds to the percentage that you're going to lose. I think at that level, you have to train really hard and be confident in what you do … and just step on the mat with the idea that I'm going to try to score some points. If you don't place so much emphasis on the outcome, but more on just going out there and competing and trying to do what you've been training to do, which is score. He has an outstanding chance of winning it all. We're hoping he does.

Destin McCauley has already won three state titles going into his sophomore season at Apple Valley. He also won a Cadet Nationals title in Fargo over the summer. What makes Destin so successful?

Destin McCauley has won three state titles entering his sophomore season (Photo/The Guillotine)

Demaray: First of all, Destin is just a great kid. He has a lot of good attributes. He has all the attributes it takes to achieve excellence. He is a hard worker. He has a good attitude. He is always interested and excited about learning. I think if kids are going to be successful, they have to want to learn and get better. He has a lot of athletic ability, but he has a real kinesthetic sense of where he is at in space. His awareness. You see that sometimes in kids where you can't teach them certain things, they just do it. You always wish you had more kids like that. Where with some kids you will have to drill, drill, drill, drill, and then it comes. But with Destin, sometimes you can show him something one time, and then he's able to actually perform that task in a competitive environment. He has everything that it takes.

I think he is one of the best wrestlers in the country, even as a sophomore. That doesn't mean that he's going to win all this matches or whatever. He needs to develop the same philosophy … and he does. We really try to drill this into our kids. You need to work hard. You need to get better every day. Don't get hung up on who you're wrestling. Just go out, try to score as many points as you can, and improve. He has all those attributes you would want to see in a wrestler.

Apple Valley completely dominated the in-state competition last season, winning in the state finals by a lopsided score of 57-6 and finished last season ranked third nationally behind only St. Paris Graham (Ohio) and Blair Academy (New Jersey). Was last season's team the best Apple Valley team ever?

Demaray: Well, it has to rank right up there with some of the other teams that we've had. You get into the rankings and you really don't know how accurate they are. You really can't control where you're at. Last season's team was an excellent team. I think they were probably as good as any team that we've had. But I think there are probably some teams that are probably fairly close and comparable. It's always difficult to say this one was better than this one. I think if you take a look at last season's team, and after they have all been through the program, I think there will be quite a few kids who will compete in Division I programs. So if that's an indication, then, yeah, I would say it would have to be one of the best teams. I think there are eight or nine kids who will wrestle in Division I. That's pretty unusual for a high school wrestling team.

What do you think of the overall state of high school wrestling in Minnesota?

Demaray: Overall, I think wrestling in Minnesota is at a very high level. You have a lot of coaches who do a great job with their programs, like Hastings, Anoka, Albert Lea, and some of those teams. They're all doing the things that they need to do. They're getting their kids involved in offseason training. They're competing in offseason competition. To be competitive at the national level, those are some of the things that kids will have to do to compete at that level.

Please Note: This story also appears in the November 14 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on The Guillotine, click HERE.

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