Chris grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota with three brothers and one sister. He had many interests, but one mainstay was the sport of wrestling in which he immediately fell in love. Under the guidance of world class instructors Chris won countless youth titles, was a two time undefeated high school state champion and earned a world silver medal at the world championships in Stockholm, Sweden. At the University of Northern Iowa Chris served as a team captain and earned All American honors by placing fifth in the country in Ames, Iowa. Chris has spent much of his adult life helping wrestlers achieve extraordinary success. Chris has coached at all levels of wrestling from youth to division one college and has been featured in numerous national wrestling stages including Take Down Media with Scott Casber, USA Wrestling magazine and Amateur Wrestling News. Chris was inducted into the Minnesota Hall of Fame in 2015. He currently lives in Marion, Iowa where he coaches a wrestling club and serves as a consultant to many elite coaches, teams and athletes across the country.
Professional
• Author 90% Mental – The Way of a Wrestling Guru
• Founder Optimized Wrestling Systems, The Way to World Class
• 21-Time published author, including Des Moines Register, Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling USA Magazine
• Coaching Recognition USA Today Newspaper
• Coaching Recognition Wrestling USA Magazine
• Coaching Recognition Amateur Wrestling News Magazine
• Featured speaker TakeDown Media Internet news show with Scott Casber
• Featured guest Dan Gable International Museum talk show Matt Talk
• Featured guest Mat Time Weekly radio show, Union City, Pennsylvania
Education
• Master’s Degree, Education Administration, Missouri State University, 1995
• Bachelor’s Degree, Physical Education, University of Northern Iowa, 1989
• 5 completed Success Seminars The Learning Annex, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• High School Diploma, Kennedy High School, Bloomington, Minnesota, 1984
Early Years
• U.S. World Team Member and Greco Roman World Silver Medalist, Stockholm, Sweden
• 2X Undefeated Minnesota High School State Champion (33-0, 35-0 – Career 146-7)
• 4X Junior Olympics Freestyle and Greco Roman Champion
• 9X National AAU National and Grand National Champion – Greco Roman & Freestyle
• Voted Minnesota’s Outstanding High School Wrestler
• Minnesota High School Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee
• Bloomington Kennedy High School Wrestling Hall of Fame
College Competitor
• NCAA All-American, University of Northern Iowa, Ames, Iowa
• Team Captain, University of Northern Iowa Wrestling Team
• Most Improved Wrestler University of Northern Iowa
• US Open Freestyle Championships 5th Place Las Vegas, Nevada
• University Freestyle Nationals Silver Medalist, Las Vegas, Nevada
Coaching
• 2X Iowa High School Team State Champions—Lisbon, Iowa
• Iowa High School Dual State Champions – Lisbon, IA
• Coached 5 Iowa High School Individual State Champions
• Coached 17 Iowa High School State Place-winners
• Coached AAU Team State Champions, All-American Wrestling Club
• Iowa National Duals Team Co-Coach—Kingsport, Tennessee
