Mike Simons of Oregon named NWCA National High School Girls Coach of the Year
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by National Wrestling Coaches Association
Manheim, PA – The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) is proud to announce the 2020 winners of the State and National High School Girls Coach of the Year awards. This program is in its second year and will continue to expand as the number of states sanctioning high school girls wrestling grows. To date Girls High School Wrestling is sanctioned in 24 states. States sponsoring girls championships: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts. Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
This year’s National Girls Coach of the Year is Mike Simons from Thurston High School (OR) and the National Girls Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year represents Penn High School (IN).
Simons (National and Oregon Coach of the Year) just completed his 24th season of coaching, the last 17 at Thurston High School, where he serves as both boys and girls head wrestling coach. His 2019-20 squad finished as State Champions with 7 individual qualifiers and 4 placers. Coach Simons has won numerous league and state coach of the year awards from OSAA, OHSCA, and the NFHS among others. He is very active at the state level; Simons serves on multiple committees including the position of OWCE Director which has allowed Simons to host international teams while also organizing travel abroad for many athletes. During the day, Coach Simons teaches Health and PE at Thurston High School.
Editor's Note: Coach Simons is very active with the Oregon Wrestling Association, the USA Wrestling state association for Oregon, and involved on the regional and national levels.
This year the NWCA expanded the awards program to recognize not just a single assistant coach for a program, but rather the entire coaching staff. This year, six coaches from Penn High School (IN) have been recognized as both the National and Indiana staff of the year. The Penn staff is comprised of Kaitlin Dickman, Mariah Eberhart, Amy Hildebrandt, Kristen Hills, Jay Reppert, Matt Selis. The 2019-2020 squad swept their four regular-season tournaments as well as the regional and state meets. This marked the fourth season in a row that the team won the state championship.
“The NWCA is proud to provide a platform to help recognize outstanding coaches at both the state and national levels. Coaches have the ability to positively impact the lives of their athletes and ultimately change the fabric of a community,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “While we are recognizing these winners, we also want to thank each coach out there as they give so much of themselves to their program and athletes.”
The winners of the Boys High School Coach of the Year awards will be released next.
This year’s National Girls Coach of the Year is Mike Simons from Thurston High School (OR) and the National Girls Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year represents Penn High School (IN).
Simons (National and Oregon Coach of the Year) just completed his 24th season of coaching, the last 17 at Thurston High School, where he serves as both boys and girls head wrestling coach. His 2019-20 squad finished as State Champions with 7 individual qualifiers and 4 placers. Coach Simons has won numerous league and state coach of the year awards from OSAA, OHSCA, and the NFHS among others. He is very active at the state level; Simons serves on multiple committees including the position of OWCE Director which has allowed Simons to host international teams while also organizing travel abroad for many athletes. During the day, Coach Simons teaches Health and PE at Thurston High School.
Editor's Note: Coach Simons is very active with the Oregon Wrestling Association, the USA Wrestling state association for Oregon, and involved on the regional and national levels.
This year the NWCA expanded the awards program to recognize not just a single assistant coach for a program, but rather the entire coaching staff. This year, six coaches from Penn High School (IN) have been recognized as both the National and Indiana staff of the year. The Penn staff is comprised of Kaitlin Dickman, Mariah Eberhart, Amy Hildebrandt, Kristen Hills, Jay Reppert, Matt Selis. The 2019-2020 squad swept their four regular-season tournaments as well as the regional and state meets. This marked the fourth season in a row that the team won the state championship.
“The NWCA is proud to provide a platform to help recognize outstanding coaches at both the state and national levels. Coaches have the ability to positively impact the lives of their athletes and ultimately change the fabric of a community,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “While we are recognizing these winners, we also want to thank each coach out there as they give so much of themselves to their program and athletes.”
The winners of the Boys High School Coach of the Year awards will be released next.
STATE – SCHOLASTIC GIRLS HEAD COACH OF THE YEAR
| SECTION | COACH | SCHOOL | STATE |
| Section 1 | Farid Syed | Kingsway Regional High School | New Jersey |
| Section 2 | George Shore | Miami East High School | Ohio |
| Section 3 | Ty Abero | Greenbrier High School | Georgia |
| Section 3 | Brian Olson | Overills High School | North Carolina |
| Section 3 | Cain Beard | Rock Hill High School | South Carolina |
| Section 3 | Jenna Morris | Tullahoma High School | Tennessee |
| Section 4 | Brad Harper | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 5 | Damon Parker | Washburn Rural High School | Kansas |
| Section 5 | Eric Devenney | Harrisonville High School | Missouri |
| Section 6 | Jerry Evans | Searcy High School | Arkansas |
| Section 6 | Nate Sellers | Miyamura High School | New Mexico |
| Section 7 | Sean Flanigan | Ironwood HS | Arizona |
| Section 7 | Robert Flores | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Robert Hesia | Kamehameha Schools Kapalama | Hawaii |
| Section 7 | Ben Szabo | Westlake High School | Utah |
| Section 8 | Junior Lambert | North Pole High School | Alaska |
| Section 8 | Mike Simons | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Dom Duncan | Hanford High School | Washington |
STATE – SCHOLASTIC GIRLS ASSISTANT COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
| SECTION | COACH | SCHOOL | STATE |
| Section 3 | Britney Hammock | Lamar County High School | Georgia |
| Section 3 | Scott Hammock | Lamar County High School | Georgia |
| Section 3 | Jonathan Bischoff | Lamar County High School | Georgia |
| Section 3 | Justin Williams | Rock Hill High School | South Carolina |
| Section 3 | Ryan Whitmore | Rock Hill High School | South Carolina |
| Section 3 | Mary Catherine Correia | Collierville High School | Tennessee |
| Section 4 | Matt Selis | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 4 | Amy Hildebrandt | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 4 | Mariah Eberhart | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 4 | Jay reppert | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 4 | Kaitlin Dickman | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 4 | Kristen Hills | Penn High School | Indiana |
| Section 5 | Mike Schridde | Great Bend High School | Kansas |
| Section 5 | Jeremy Foster | Great Bend High School | Kansas |
| Section 5 | Brian Schriddle | Great Bend High School | Kansas |
| Section 5 | Kristy Creamer | Great Bend High School | Kansas |
| Section 5 | Bobby Herrick | Harrisonville High School | Missouri |
| Section 5 | Shannon Lineberry | Harrisonville High School | Missouri |
| Section 5 | James Pesek | Harrisonville High School | Missouri |
| Section 5 | Daniel Jennings | Harrisonville High School | Missouri |
| Section 6 | Dusty Bowman | Har-Ber High School | Arkansas |
| Section 6 | Godwal “Ed” Viera | Har-Ber High School | Arkansas |
| Section 6 | Jacob Robertson | Har-Ber High School | Arkansas |
| Section 6 | Ozzy Guerrero | Miyamura High School | New Mexico |
| Section 7 | Michael Garcia | Basha HS | Arizona |
| Section 7 | Eric Toraya | Basha HS | Arizona |
| Section 7 | David Whitten | Basha HS | Arizona |
| Section 7 | Nguyey Tran | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Colin Malcolm | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Eli Bagaosian | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Allen Chan | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Danny Mai | James Logan High School | California |
| Section 7 | Fallyn Kapoi | Kamehameha Schools Kapalama | Hawaii |
| Section 7 | Kelii Ross | Kamehameha Schools Kapalama | Hawaii |
| Section 7 | Shana Dilliner | Kamehameha Schools Kapalama | Hawaii |
| Section 7 | Chris West | Kamehameha Schools Kapalama | Hawaii |
| Section 7 | Cody Burdett | Westlake High School | Utah |
| Section 7 | Emily Finlinson | Westlake High School | Utah |
| Section 8 | Jeff Cardwell | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Guy Harris | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Madison Simons | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Joe Gardner | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Austin Hughes | Thurston High School | Oregon |
| Section 8 | Chris Dicugno | White River High School | Washington |
| Section 8 | Jeff Moore | White River High School | Washington |
| Section 8 | Randy Beddow | White River High School | Washington |
