Israel Silva brings extensive experience in new role as California USA Wrestling’s State Coach

Respected international and college coach Israel Silva is a few weeks into his new job as the new State Coach for California USA Wrestling, the USA Wrestling state association in California. His hire was officially announced internally at the recent California USA Wrestling Board meeting in early October.


With almost two decades of Div. I coaching on his resume, success as an athlete at the international level, and a high-level background coaching all three of the Olympic disciplines, “Izzy” brings an impressive skillset into his new position working with athletes, coaches and families in wrestling-rich California.


The opportunity arose when Silva spoke with California USA Wrestling state chairperson Duane Morgan and Rob Valerio, who runs the state association staff, about their job opening for a State Coach.


“As time went on, and we started talking more about it, I made the jump and told them I would love to be involved with the organization. They wanted to get it done as soon as possible,” said Silva.


There are more high school wrestlers in California than in any other state, and California USA Wrestling has the most members of any USA Wrestling state association. Membership includes youth, high school, college and Masters athletes, both men and women. Silva is excited about the opportunity to reach more wrestlers and help them develop as athletes and students.


“We want to help the high school level and the Senior level with the RTCs as well. We want to be a resource to everybody. I don’t have any specific job description. They said, ‘Don’t put yourself in a box. Make yourself available to whatever we need.’ We want to develop Regional sites, where everyone is following the same plan. We have great coaches that we want to bring together. My job is to unite everyone and get everyone on the same page, getting more involved in men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle. The idea is to get them working together to make California the toughest state out there,” said Silva.


He will use his strong connection with USA Wrestling’s National Coaching Staff in all three styles to bring cutting edge training strategies to wrestlers in the Golden State.


“I have contacts with (National Women’s Coach) Terry Steiner and his staff with women’s freestyle. I have been working closely with (Manager of Greco-Roman Programs) Gary Mayabb and his G.R.I.T. performance program I’ve worked with (Men’s Freestyle National Coaches) Joe Russell, Bill Zadick and Kevin Jackson. It’s using me as a resource to see what they are doing with their initiatives, and bringing it back to California. I’ll still be involved with USA teams at the Cadet, Junior and Senior levels. They want me travelling with teams and bringing what I learn back to California,” he said.


A native of Washington, and a former assistant coach at Oregon State, Silva has an extensive knowledge of wrestling on the West Coast. Silva has become very familiar with California in recent years, serving as an assistant coach alongside Troy Steiner at Fresno State, as well as his role as a coach with the Valley Regional Training Center there.


“I have coached in Tennessee, Oregon, the Midwest, the East Coast, but nothing compares to California. People here love their wrestling. They are deep-rooted, with generations and generations of wrestlers. The South, Central and North, it’s wrestling country out here. The youth tournaments are huge and the parents are very involved. I have never seen anything like it. It’s very competitive. The one-class state tournament is super competitive; if you can even make it there, you are doing something special,” said Silva.


He has a lot of high goals for himself, for the state association and for the wrestlers in the state of California. Silva is excited to fully invest his time and energy into the new opportunity.


“We want to get our young kids experiencing freestyle and Greco in the grassroots. We want our best kids competing at the Schoolboy Duals, the Cadet Duals and the Junior Duals, and we want to bring home titles. We want to bring our best kids to Fargo and come home with lots of champions and lots of All-Americans. Really, it is not just focusing on our best kids. We want to provide more kids with the opportunity to prove themselves and get college scholarships,” he said.


And Silva has some big dreams for California at the highest levels also.


“The Olympics will be coming to LA in 2028. I’ve said I want a kid on the men’s freestyle team, the Greco team and on our women’s team from California. It might be a kid who is already in high school now, or in college, or they are coming up in the Schoolboy ranks. We are going to identify them now, track them, and try to get them on those teams,” he said.


Israel Silva gets more into detail, and covers other topics, in the video posted above, which can also be found on USA Wrestling’s YouTube Channel.