Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
07/28/2006
Robert De Berry named Kids Person of the Year by USA Wrestling. The award annually honors a leader who has to made great contributions to Kids wrestling in the United States.De Berry is the head coach at Sunnyside High School in Tucson, one of the nation’s most successful prep wrestling programs. De Berry is involved in wrestling at all levels as a coach and leader, with a special interest in building youth wrestling.
De Berry has served as Cadet Director for Arizona USA Wrestling since 1995. He has coached Arizona teams at the Cadet Nationals, the Kids Nationals, the Western Kids/Cadet Regionals and the Cadet National Duals. De Berry runs the training camp held in Southern Arizona for athletes who compete at the Cadet and Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. each year. He has attended every Cadet and Junior Nationals event since 1986.
He is the coach of the Sunnyside Wrestling Club, which provides regular wrestling training opportunities for over 80 athletes from his community. De Berry not only coaches the youth from his high school, but from numerous other schools in the city. He has coached over 50 Cadet and Junior All-Americans from the Sunnyside Wrestling Club, with 11 national champions and seven national runners-up. De Berry works with wrestlers of all ages and skill levels, with a special commitment to the grass roots program.
He has built a powerhouse at Sunnyside High School, where he became head wrestling coach in 1994. His team has won nine consecutive state team titles, and has had 10 state champion teams during his tenure at Sunnyside. De Berry has produced 52 state individual champions, and has earned a record of 337-33 in dual meets.
De Berry was named NWCA National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2004. He has been named Arizona Head Wrestling Coach of the Year 16 times, and has received the Southern Arizona Coach of the Year award 16 times. He was also named NWCA Region 8 Coach of the Year.
Among the athletes he has coached are NCAA Div. I champions Eric Larkin of Arizona State and Nate Gallick of Iowa State.
Prior to taking the job at Sunnyside High School, he was the head coach at Canyon Del Oro High school from 1987-1993, and an assistant coach at Pima Community College from 1982-1986.
Kids Person of the Year
1978 - Bill Knapp, New York
1979 - Ken Coover, Kansas
1980 - Gary Hoyt, Nebraska
1981 - Pat Alexander. Washington
1982 - Dave Gliniecki, Washington
1983 - John Spencer, Idaho
1984 - Jerry Opbroek, South Dakota
1985 - Joe Edmonson, Nebraska
1986 - David Rudrud, Wisconsin
1987 - Virgil Moon, Oregon
1988 - Ron Wagner, North Dakota
1989 - Paul Corder, Missouri
1990 - Ron Reichert, Illinois
1991 - Randy Staab, Washington
1992 - Dan Drinkwine, Minnesota
1993 - Mike McCoy, Florida
1994 - Roger Hanson, Idaho
1995 - Norman Osteen, North Carolina
1996 - Kathy Hopkins, Wyoming
1997 - Steve Wachal, Iowa
1998 - Virgil Moon, Oregon
1999 - Frank Rader, North Carolina
2000 - Sue Siar, Pennsylvania
2001 - Paul DeFosse, Rhode Island
2002 - Steve Knipp, Iowa
2003 - Haswell Franklin, Maryland
2004 – Gregory and Leanna Grater, Kansas
2005 – George Anne and Jim Ritter, Nevada
2006 – Robert Deberry, Arizona
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