Chris HackerHacker won back-to-back Oklahoma Class 4A state titles for El Reno High School in 2006 and 2007. He then headed north to wrestle at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. Hacker returned to his home state to University of Central Oklahoma to earn a Master of Education degree, and serve as a graduate assistant wrestling coach to head coach David James, who has been with the program for over 30 years, Hacker was part of Central Oklahoma's NCAA Division II National Championship, where he helped coach 10 All-American wrestlers, three national champions and two NCAA top five team finishers.
Otero Junior College athletic director Gary Addington said of the new program, "This is going to be good for the Arkansas Valley with its strong wrestling tradition that spans all the way to the Kansas border. Having this program gives opportunities to kids to continue their education and participate in a sport they love; kids who otherwise may not have seen those opportunities Otero is a two-year college who opens doors to everybody. These wrestlers will not only have the opportunity to complete a two-year degree, but also have an increased opportunity to move on to both wrestle and study at a four-year school."
To accommodate the new athletic program, OJC will be building two new units in the Conley Student Housing Complex to house the additional student-athletes. The team will initially wrestle open tournaments in Kansas and Wyoming as well as dual meets with teams in the Colorado region.
"Other NJCAA Region IX colleges will soon be adding wrestling to their athletic programs as well, so within a few short years I think we are going to see wrestling become one of the premier athletic sports in Region IX," said Addington. "OJC will approach this new sport as we have done all our other sports, we demand high standards of excellence in both athletics and academics. Academics comes first at OJC and we do all we can to provide the support student athletes need be successful both in the classroom and in their athletic competitions."
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