New wrestling coach builds pack

Dax Charles was picked as the leader for the pack, the new wrestling Pack that is. 

After the program was cut in 2001, the wrestling team will make its first appearance in fall of 2008.  So until their big debut Charles has to recruit, recruit and recruit some more.

“I want wrestlers with positive attitudes, hard workers and determination for a national championship” Charles said. He knows the tools it takes to achieve that kind of honor, he was a NCAA Division II National Champion when he wrestled for the University of Southern Colorado in 1992.

 He also walked away from the campus as a 3 time All-American, Student Athlete of the Year 1992, Jessie Blazen Blake award winner for senior athletes in 1994, as well as Academic All-American ‘94.

Right now Charles is focusing on building his pack, a goal of 30 wrestlers. So far he has seven he’s brought on board. He hit the ground running when he regained his position as a coach. Charles coached at the University of Southern Colorado for seven years as an assistant to head coach Doug Moses.

He wants to bring back the tradition and expectations of toughness, out working the opponent and good role modeling to his new team. Those values carried over into Charles career path; he worked as director of support services at El Pueblo Boys and Girls Ranch for the past 14 years.

For 16 years, he has been a wrestler and that is where his passion is. He will need it to start a team from scratch and to accomplish his goal of at least one All-American wrestler at the end of the first season. To be an All-American selection, the wrestler has to at least rank number eight in the nation to gain that title.

Charles will be joined by an assistant coach. The search for that position will begin July 1. For right now he is looking for former wrestlers that would be interesting in helping him out.

Charles competed against two other candidates for the position of head coach.  Robbie Odell, a graduate and state champion of Pueblo South High School in 1997, was one of the three final candidates. Odell formerly wrestled for Cal-State Bakersfield and is an assistant coach at Adams State College.

Mike Mendoza was the other candidate for the head coaching job. He has served as the head coach at Cal-State Bakersfield for the past five seasons, where he also wrestled from 1994-99. He served at an assistant coach at Adams State College.

After an all day interview on campus, Charles was selected by the university and community members as the one to restart the wrestling program. He started doing that on September 1, when he began recruiting wrestlers.

The facilities for the wrestling team will be located in the Massari Arena. Currently, the building is under major renovation. A new recreation center is also under construction which will be a new addition to the facility. The Massari Arena’s projected completion date is January of 2008. The recreation center will be finished approximately in summer of 2008. 

Along with the decision to re-introduce the wrestling team; track and field and football will begin their seasons in the 2008-09 academic year. These programs are part of the expansion to the athletic department which was voted on and passed in May of 2007.

The search continues for Charles as he finds wrestlers to join his pack and the CSU-Pueblo campus.

Posted in Sports