Ryan Loder becomes State Coach for California USA Wrestling
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
California native Ryan Loder, who was an NCAA Div. I All-American at Northern Iowa and has college and youth coaching experience, has been named State Coach for California USA Wrestling.
Loder will work with youth wrestlers in California and help coach California’s state-level teams at the major USA Wrestling age-group competitions.
In addition to his duties with California USA Wrestling, Loder is the owner and coach of the respected Apex Wrestling Academy in Eldorado Hills, Calif., a year-round program for wrestlers from youth through the high school levels.
Loder competed for Granite Bay High School in California, where he was a two-time state placewinner on the high school level and also a four-time state freestyle champion. He was very active with California USA Wrestling, earning All-American honors in freestyle by placing sixth in 2008 Junior Nationals at 171 pounds and third in the 2007 Cadet Nationals at 189 pounds. He started competing with California USA Wrestling as a kid, developing over time, experiences which will help him as the new State Coach.
“It was definitely not as big when I was younger. I started out at little kid tournaments. It grew from there, and when I got better, I went to the state tournaments. It took me awhile to get good at the state level. From there, I went to Regional and National events, until I was able to become an All-American at Fargo,” said Loder.
Loder credits his involvement in USA Wrestling is the off-season for helping him improve and move on to become a Div. I college wrestler.
“The tournaments themselves and the year-round wrestling helped me. I made a lot of friends who I grew up with through wrestling. I am still in contact with many of them. It also helped me after the season knowing them. There were guys who would get together, and we would train together in the summer,” said Loder.
Loder was an NCAA All-American for Northern Iowa, placing seventh at 184 pounds in the 2013 NCAA Championships. He was a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Panthers. After college, he competed on the Senior level in freestyle, wrestling for the Panther WC. He was sixth at the 2015 U.S. Open at 86 kg/189 lbs.
While competing on the Senior level, Loder worked out with and coached athletes from the Northern Iowa program. He learned a great deal from the coaching staff at Northern Iowa which is helping him as he pursues his own coaching career. UNI’s head coach is Olympian and NCAA champion Doug Schwab.
“Doug Schwab was the perfect coach for us. He works hard every day at it, and puts his heart and soul into it. This is not just with the UNI program but also with USA Wrestling. He does a lot for wrestling around the country. If you want to be a coach, Doug was great to learn from. His brother Mark Schwab was also a great coach, and we had Tolly Thompson and Randy Pugh as well. I hit the jackpot with great coaches. I learned to coach at a high level, including the mental game with the time invested in each athlete. They would do anything for you,” said Loder.
Loder received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the University of Northern Iowa in 2014, and added a Master of Business Administration from UNI in 2016. He also served as an Athletic Development Graduate Assistant at UNI during the 2015 year.
Loder is putting all of his experience to work as he helps improve the quality and quantity of wrestling in the Golden State.
“I am here to promote freestyle and Greco-Roman. There are a lot of high school and junior high wrestlers who didn’t do freestyle and Greco. Maybe it was because their coaches didn’t know how to coach it. We know that the top guys at the NCAAs all did three styles as they developed. I will be working at getting these kids at a younger age knowing the freestyle and Greco-Roman rules and tactics. Knowing freestyle will only help them,” said Loder.
Loder takes great pride in being a native of California. His goal is to help provide a stronger system, which will help make the young wrestlers there even more successful in the sport.
“California can be better. Our state is full of untapped talent. These athletes are in need of committed top-level coaches year round. Wrestlers get better when they are wrestling other top guys at practice. The old saying iron sharpens iron has never been more true in this case. Now add committed top level coaches to the mix and Team California is going to make some big jumps. The areas that have training centers are the ones that are producing the most state medalists,” said Loder.
Loder will work with youth wrestlers in California and help coach California’s state-level teams at the major USA Wrestling age-group competitions.
In addition to his duties with California USA Wrestling, Loder is the owner and coach of the respected Apex Wrestling Academy in Eldorado Hills, Calif., a year-round program for wrestlers from youth through the high school levels.
Loder competed for Granite Bay High School in California, where he was a two-time state placewinner on the high school level and also a four-time state freestyle champion. He was very active with California USA Wrestling, earning All-American honors in freestyle by placing sixth in 2008 Junior Nationals at 171 pounds and third in the 2007 Cadet Nationals at 189 pounds. He started competing with California USA Wrestling as a kid, developing over time, experiences which will help him as the new State Coach.
“It was definitely not as big when I was younger. I started out at little kid tournaments. It grew from there, and when I got better, I went to the state tournaments. It took me awhile to get good at the state level. From there, I went to Regional and National events, until I was able to become an All-American at Fargo,” said Loder.
Loder credits his involvement in USA Wrestling is the off-season for helping him improve and move on to become a Div. I college wrestler.
“The tournaments themselves and the year-round wrestling helped me. I made a lot of friends who I grew up with through wrestling. I am still in contact with many of them. It also helped me after the season knowing them. There were guys who would get together, and we would train together in the summer,” said Loder.
Loder was an NCAA All-American for Northern Iowa, placing seventh at 184 pounds in the 2013 NCAA Championships. He was a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Panthers. After college, he competed on the Senior level in freestyle, wrestling for the Panther WC. He was sixth at the 2015 U.S. Open at 86 kg/189 lbs.
While competing on the Senior level, Loder worked out with and coached athletes from the Northern Iowa program. He learned a great deal from the coaching staff at Northern Iowa which is helping him as he pursues his own coaching career. UNI’s head coach is Olympian and NCAA champion Doug Schwab.
“Doug Schwab was the perfect coach for us. He works hard every day at it, and puts his heart and soul into it. This is not just with the UNI program but also with USA Wrestling. He does a lot for wrestling around the country. If you want to be a coach, Doug was great to learn from. His brother Mark Schwab was also a great coach, and we had Tolly Thompson and Randy Pugh as well. I hit the jackpot with great coaches. I learned to coach at a high level, including the mental game with the time invested in each athlete. They would do anything for you,” said Loder.
Loder received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the University of Northern Iowa in 2014, and added a Master of Business Administration from UNI in 2016. He also served as an Athletic Development Graduate Assistant at UNI during the 2015 year.
Loder is putting all of his experience to work as he helps improve the quality and quantity of wrestling in the Golden State.
“I am here to promote freestyle and Greco-Roman. There are a lot of high school and junior high wrestlers who didn’t do freestyle and Greco. Maybe it was because their coaches didn’t know how to coach it. We know that the top guys at the NCAAs all did three styles as they developed. I will be working at getting these kids at a younger age knowing the freestyle and Greco-Roman rules and tactics. Knowing freestyle will only help them,” said Loder.
Loder takes great pride in being a native of California. His goal is to help provide a stronger system, which will help make the young wrestlers there even more successful in the sport.
“California can be better. Our state is full of untapped talent. These athletes are in need of committed top-level coaches year round. Wrestlers get better when they are wrestling other top guys at practice. The old saying iron sharpens iron has never been more true in this case. Now add committed top level coaches to the mix and Team California is going to make some big jumps. The areas that have training centers are the ones that are producing the most state medalists,” said Loder.
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