USA Wrestling National Coaches Council launches first episode of “Heads Up” podcast, featuring special guest Bruce Baumgartner
by USA Wrestling
The USA Wrestling National Coaches Council released the first episode of their new podcast “Heads Up” earlier today, and it is now available for streaming and download.
The podcast is hosted by Mike Hagerty, a founding member of the National Coaches Council and Mike Clayton, USA Wrestling’s Manager of the National Coaches Education Program.
Hagerty is a numerous-time World Team coach and a two-time USA Wrestling Developmental Coach of the Year. Hagerty served as head coach at DII Central Missouri for seven seasons, twice earning Midwest Coach of the Year honors. He also spent 24 seasons coaching at Blue Springs High School in Missouri, leading the team to three state titles and seven other top-three finishes. In addition to his coaching, Hagerty received the Meritorious Official Award in 2017 from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, after serving as an NCAA Division 1 official for over 25 years.
Prior to joining USA Wrestling in 2014, Clayton coached at numerous colleges and universities including Stevens Tech in New Jersey, where he was the 2008 NCAA Div. III Rookie Coach of the Year and the 2009 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year, and the Apprentice School in Virginia, where he was a four-time nominee for NCWA Coach of the year. Clayton was also the head assistant coach for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an assistant coach for his Alma Mater, the U.S. Naval Academy.
In the podcast’s first episode, Hagerty and Clayton are joined by USA Wrestling’s current president Bruce Baumgartner. A wrestling legend, Baumgartner is a two-time Olympic champion, a four time Olympic medalist, a three-time World champion and nine-time World medalist.
The National Coaches Council strives to responsibly promote amateur wrestling in the United States and serves as an advocate for recommendations to USA Wrestling on all matters related to coaching wrestling. The Heads Up podcast will air every other Wednesday, featuring a variety of guests and topics pertaining to coaching and wrestling.
Watch episode one of Heads Up - A USA Wrestling Coaches Council Podcast below: