WIN Coaches Corner feature on Khaled Dassan: The KD way

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In case you were wondering what the initials ‘KD’ on the front of PJ Duke’s Final X singlet stood for … Khaled Dassan is a name to remember.

It might not strike a chord with wrestling historians, but the Yonkers, N.Y. native is writing his own story, one impacted kid at a time.

No, Dassan admittedly does not have the laundry list of wrestling accolades that some of his coaching counterparts possess. If the level of care a coach invests into an athlete counts for something, though, it might as well count for everything.

KD’s wrestlers attest to that.

“Coach KD has helped me so much,” PJ Duke, the U20 World champ, Senior World Team member and 2025 Junior Dan Hodge Trophy recipient stated. “His commitment to his athletes is unmatched and unparalleled. He would die for me.”

“He is really just like a best friend, an older brother, and someone to look up to,” U17 World champ Jayden James out of Delbarton School in New Jersey said on a recent episode of the BASCHAMANIA podcast.

“It’s a lot better for your progression when you know he is not looking for the money or the fame; he just wants to see you do great.”’

Those comments from such extraordinary young talents ring loudly, especially for a coach who never stepped foot on a wrestling mat until high school.

“I started wrestling late into my ninth-grade year,” Dassan recalled. “A buddy of mine went out for it, and we had done a little MMA and martial arts.

“I fell in love with it. It is just you out there; it all falls on you. You can’t point the finger at a quarterback or a guy on the line. You control your own destiny.”

After graduating from Saunders High in 2016, Dassan stuck around and started coaching a small group of talented young kids in the area.

“The kids I was coaching from a young age, like PJ, followed me. I had a small club, like an underground thing with six to eight kids, at first. They were superstars.

“My uncle had a gym, Animals MMA Yonkers, which was a huge help. Next thing you know I had 30 members. Then it kept growing.”

Today, KD Training Center has over 200 members and has expanded to two locations, one in Westchester County and one on Long Island.

The club boasts some of the biggest young names in wrestling, especially at the U17 and U20 age level. Aside from the aforementioned PJ Duke and Jayden James, KD has coached and mentored 2024 U20 World silver medalist Zack Ryder, now a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma State, 2024 NCAA runner-up Rocco Welsh, who is set to represent Team USA at the U23 Worlds, and 2025 16U Fargo champ Camryn Howard, among many others.

Dassan emphasized his success as a coach has little to do with his own prowess on the mat as a wrestler but everything to do with the effort he pours into the kids.

“The faces on kids when they reach their goals is why I do it,” he said. “I am there to believe in a kid the way my coaches believed in me.”

“It is not about chasing financial gains. I was a kid who did not have much or come from much, but I put that aside and just wanted to give these kids the best opportunities.

“A lot of club coaches do it for the wrong reasons. The reason is the kids. If not, it won’t last. Kids are smart; you can’t manipulate them. They know who is willing to die for them.”

Dassan believes in immersing himself in all aspects of wrestling to sharpen himself as a coach and leader. He has aligned some of his coaching philosophies with mantras spoken by Cael Sanderson.

“The kids fall in love with our process-over-outcome philosophy,” he said. “It all came from Coach Cael. If I lose, is it the end of my life? If any one loss could catapult you to something greater, was it worth it?”

Dassan also takes notes from other high-level wrestlers and coaches and tries to bring something back with him to the club.

“The biggest part of our success is knowing I don’t know it all. I put myself in positions to learn. If I don’t know something I will bring in somebody who does.

“Do what is best for your athletes. Some guys have trouble not being in control. Relinquish some control. Your guys will know how much you love them. Give up a little of that power. You can step aside when you put your athletes first.”

As some of his long-term pupils climb higher and higher on the sport’s biggest stages, KD still maintains the off-the-mat compliments he receives about his wrestlers mean more than the medals.

“One of the best coaches in the country said to me, ‘How are your guys such great people?’

“I remind them that 20 years from now you’ll just be a name on a stat sheet or in a magazine. Who you are as a person and your character is more important.

“Shake a man’s hand with your right hand and make eye contact. Lose with class and win with class. Titles are great, but you’ll be remembered for who you are as a person more than gold medals.”

And as that small group of promising six to eight young kids that started it all for KD are, one by one, leaving the nest, he remains in their corner for life.

“Our relationship isn’t based on where they’re at in the wrestling world. They know I am in their life for the rest of their life. They will be in a situation someday where they may need me, so I want them to know I am there for them for anything.”