Impact
Records
Don Minor
Bonita Vista High School Chula
Impact Statement
Minor led Bonita Vista to three CIF State Titles over his career. He left a legacy behind with his activities with the Junior Golf Association.
Biography
When he started playing golf at the ripe “old” age of 12, Don Minor didn’t see himself making his living in the golfing business. It’s merely another classic example of how time can change things including one’s career path. “My parents started me playing golf, and it was just something fun to do” said Minor, who has guided Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista, California to prominence among San Diego area schools. It wasn’t unusual to start at that age then. Today, that’s a very late age for a tournament golfer to start playing.
Not only did Minor come late to playing the game of golf, he came late to coaching it as well. Retired from the U.S. Navy after serving 27 years as a fighter pilot, he has become one of golf’s guiding forces in southern California. But Minor comes earlier than any other high school golf coach to national honors. The National High School Coaches Association is honoring Minor as its inaugural National High School Golf Coach of the Year for 1998.
The head coach at Bonita Vista High since 1995, Minor has continued the school’s excellence in the competitive San Diego Section. Bonita Vista has won six consecutive Metro League championships, and in 1996, qualified for the state championships with a second-place section finish as a team. That team went on to finish seventh in the state tournament. This year’s Bonita Vista squad went 13-1 in its first 14 dual meets. Though he started playing golf at a relatively late age, Minor showed an aptitude for the game. He played four years for his high school team, then earned three varsity letters at Oregon State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1965.
Upon graduation from college, Minor was accepted into the Navy’s flight training program. For the next 27 years, he would have no formal association with the sport. Minor earned his Navy pilot wings in 1967. By the time he retired in 1992 with the rank of Captain, he had racked up 5,500 flight hours and 849 carrier landings. Oh, by the way, accompanied by many rounds of golf. “I did get to play a lot of golf at some really beautiful courses all around the world,” Minor said. “Golf was fun. But that was the extent of my involvement with it.”
Then Minor landed with the San Diego County Golf Association. In 1994, he became the tournament director of the Junior World Golf Championships, the world’s oldest and largest international junior golf championship event. Last year’s event, the 31st Annual, attracted about 870 participants in four age divisions ranging up to age 17, including 250 from 35 foreign countries. American participants qualify through their state, while the majority of foreign contestants are selected by their respective golf governing bodies.
“The thing that makes the Junior Worlds unique is the extensive foreign participation,” Minor said. “We have state qualifying here, but you don’t see that in many foreign countries, where they pick who they want to attend. We have our first entry from Morocco this year, and that’s exciting.”
“The college coaches love it, too. The Junior World is their chance to see the elite golfers compete, not just from the United States, but from all over the world. Last year, we had the girls junior champion from Taiwan come to compete in the Junior Worlds, and she earned a scholarship and is now playing at a school here in the United States.” The Junior World Championships is just one of a myriad of events today available to junior-age golfers. “It’s amazing how many events there are now,” Minor said. “Even 10 years ago, there weren’t that many events. Now, you can go to an event every week if you want. Some parents say they budget as much as $15,000 per year for their son or daughter’s junior golf schedule. That’s a lot of money, but they look at it as an investment. If their child earns a college scholarship as a result of playing that schedule, then that investment has paid off.”
The effect of the enforcement of Title IX has been an increase in opportunities for girls “but not necessarily an increase in participation” and that is one of Minor’s challenges in his current full-time post as executive director of the San Diego County Junior Golf Association.
“Any decent girl golfer has an excellent chance of getting a scholarship just about any place,” Minor said. “There’s much more competition among the boys. If you look at our membership in San Diego County, in the 15-17 age group, we’ve got about 350 boys who are members, but only about 20 girls. I don’t know what the reason is. We’ve really tried hard to get the girls’ membership up, but it’s been tough.”
“There are so many quality boy golfers out there, there’s not enough room for all of them. The golf coach at Sacramento State is dividing up scholarships among the boys for 10 spots. But they can’t find enough girls to fill the 10 girls’ spots. They’ve never had 10 girls. “If I’d have been smart, I’d have had my daughter playing golf.” Minor’s military experience has more than compensated for his lack of teaching experience in working with high school golfers. “I had to work with many young sailors, many not much older than the high school golfers I coach now,” he said. “In both cases, you have a lot of control over their lives, that’s for sure. You have to motivate them to be mature, productive individuals. Golf is a game that teaches maturity. It’s a game of failure. Sometimes you’ll hit a bad drive, or three-putt a green, and you have to learn to just let it go, to concentrate on the next hole. Some kids with all the talent in the world never learn that. The ones that are successful are the ones that control their emotions through the good shots and the bad shots.” Minor’s actual path to the Bonita Vista position was aided by his involvement with his son Mark’s golfing career. Think Don started late Mark didn’t pick up a club until he was 13, in 1990. But, like father like son, Mark learned the game quickly. Today Mark is the No. 1 golfer at Cabrillo Community College in Santa Cruz, California.
When Mark was a golfer at Bonita Vista, the team needed scorekeepers, so Don was among the volunteers. When an assistant coach was needed, Don again came to the rescue. After two years on the staff, the head coach was transferred to another campus. Though school district personnel were given preference in hiring, no staff members expressed an interest.
So Minor was hired. It’s been a win-win situation all the way around. “Because of my involvement with the Junior Golf Association, it works out great for the school,” he said. “My dad tells me I’ve got the best retirement job in the world.”
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Owatonna High School
“In the sport of wrestling you’re going to lose sometimes and you learn to deal with that, pick up your bootstraps and keep pushing on. That just simulates life.” -Scot Davis
“In the sport of wrestling you’re going to lose sometimes and you learn to deal with that, pick up your bootstraps and keep pushing on. That just simulates life.” -Scot Davis
Scot Davis
Owatonna High School
Impact Statement
“In the sport of wrestling you’re going to lose sometimes and you learn to deal with that, pick up your bootstraps and keep pushing on. That just simulates life.” -Scot Davis
Biography
Scot’s Owatonna team won its first Class AAA dual state title this year, posting a 41-1 overall record and a final # 8 national ranking. He has led Owatonna to the state dual tournament three consecutive years.
A coach who promoted the sport of wrestling like no other is Scot Davis. That promotion helped produce many successful teams (State Champions in 1998- ranked #8 in USA, and 2005- ranked #6 in USA) and ten teams ranked in “Top 25” in the USA. He coached 12 State Tournament teams and 18 Conference Championship Teams.
In 2010, Rob Sherrill-WIN Magazine wrote in his column the “Top 10” Hotbeds of Wrestling in the United States.” At #8, Sherrill said: “The clear winner of the one-town, one-team hotbed sweepstakes, Owatonna’s inclusion on this list is a tribute to Owatonna High School coach Scot Davis, the undisputed leader in program promotion.”
Great promotion and a philosophy of participation and asking people to help with the program, Davis never had a losing season as a coach in a 46 year career. He has turned some losing programs into winners in a short time. From junior high coaching in Bloomington and Burnsville (while still attending college in the early 1970’s), to Turtle Mountain Community High School in Belcourt (ND) in 1976-77, to Bird Island-Lake Lillian (MN) 1977-78 to 1978-79, Hutchinson (MN)1979-80 to 1984-85, University of Wisconsin-Superior (WI) 1985-86, to 25 years at Owatonna High School (MN) 1986-87 to 2010-11, 2012-13 at Flathead High School in Kalispell, Montana, three years (2014, 2015, 2016) at Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, MN., 2016-17 Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City, Iowa and 2017-18 at Westwood Community High School in Sloan, Iowa. He has never had a losing season record and coached four different HS programs to conference titles (different conferences) and individual state champions at four different schools as well. The accumulation of records has given Davis a coaching record unmatched in amateur wrestling history, with over a 1100 dual meet victories (current high school career coaching record 1129-197-4).
Davis was awarded National High School Wrestling “Coach of the Year” in 1998 by the National High School Coaches Association. In 2007 he received another “National Wrestling Coach of the Year” honor from Wrestling USA Magazine. He was runner-up for that same honor in 2006. In 2009 he was named “USA Dream Team Coach” for the 13th annual Dream Team Classic held in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Also in 2009, Wrestling USA Magazine awarded him their “Master of Wrestling” Award. As a college coach, Davis was named one of the “Top Rookie College Coaches in the USA” by Amateur Wrestling News and NCAA News in 1986. He was NAIA-District 14 “Coach of the Year” that season too. He is a member of 8 Hall of Fames. Davis also served as USA Team Coach for Down Under Sports, taking high school wrestlers from across the USA each summer to compete in New Zealand and Australia.
On the State and Regional level, Davis received 2004 Minnesota “Man of the Year” by Wrestling USA Magazine; 2005 Minnesota (Class AAA) “Coach of the Year;” named 1999 Minnesota “All-Star Coach” for the MN vs WI All-Star Classic: and several District, Region, Section and Conference “Coach of the Year” honors. He was also selected as 1999 Minnesota All-Star Coach for the annual Minnesota vs Wisconsin All-Star HS Wrestling Classic. In 2011 the Owatonna High School Student Council selected him as “Grand Marshall” for their annual Homecoming Parade.
As a promoter, Davis organized and directed two of Minnesota’s largest “open” tournaments in the Hutch Open (1981-85) and the Owatonna Open (1987-2007). He served as Chairman of the 1985 Minnesota vs Iowa HS All-Star Wrestling Classic, and was initiator of the Minnesota vs Wisconsin HS All-Star Wrestling Classic. He served as President of the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association in 1991-92 and MWCA Publicity Director for 8 years (1993-2000). He served on the organizing committee for the 2000 USA Dream Team Classic held at Apple Valley High School. He now serves on the Region 1 Hall of Fame committee, and he serves as Vice-President and host of the Minnesota Chapter of the NWHOF, since 2004. As a writer, Davis wrote one of the nation’s first columns on nutrition for wrestling with his “Nutrition Insight” column for The Guillotine. That column and other articles he wrote earned him the 1986 Bob Dellinger Award, representing the nation’s “Outstanding Writer of Wrestling.” Davis has made 16 Wrestling Technique DVD’s for Championship Productions, Inc., that have been sold across the USA, some internationally too.
Former coaching colleague, Larry Hovden, says: “Davis ,in terms of promotion, is second to none! He always pushed to get people, particularly who contributed to the program, recognized publicly for their contributions.” A number of those people received national awards. One supporter was Scot’s wife, Mary. She received 1999 “National Coaches Wife of the Year” by Wrestling USA Magazine. Others included Keith Stark, Dale Benjamin and Larry Hovden, receiving national awards for writing, broadcasting and coaching respectively. Numerous other people received awards on the state, region and local levels. There were “Honored Guests” at all home meets too. Retired Owatonna HS Principal and former Athletic Director Jim Herzog says, “I do not know of another person who has so thoroughly and deeply dedicated his life to the promotion of a sport…Scot thinks wrestling every day! He is the perfect candidate for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. I can’t imagine one more deserving of this honor!”
Davis graduated from Bloomington-Kennedy High School in 1969. There he played football and was wrestling Team Captain. He attended Normandale Junior College and was on the 1971 State Junior College Wrestling Championship Team. He then attended Augsburg College (B.A-’74) where he was a 1973 NAIA All-American and Team Captain. He was coached by the late Dick Anderson at Kennedy HS, John Quarles at Normandale College, and Hall of Fame coaches Mike Good and John Grygelko at Augsburg College. Davis holds Masters Degrees from the University of Minnesota (M.Ed-’82) and the University of St.Thomas (M.A.-’95). He has an additional 75 Graduate Credits at various Universities.
The Davis family includes Scot’s wife, Mary, and their three adult children in Alyssa (currently working Myanmar with “Save the Children.” Son, Colin, who wrestled for his father and was a 2004 Big 9 All-Conference wrestler and Section One placewinner, living in Owatonna. He has a daughter Taylan (age 7). His daughter Ashley is married to Zach Wilson, and is a nurse at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St.Louis, MO. Her husband just graduated from Medical School at St. Louis University. They now live in Rochester, Minnesota where Zach is doing is Residency at the Mayo Clinic. They have a daughter Lillian (age 4) and infant son Zachary.
Since he was named the Coach of the Year in 1998, Davis has continued to add more to his impressive resume. In addition to the eight Big Nine Conference titles he won prior to being named, he added another 5 titles while at Owatonna. He has won the most Big Nine Conference Titles in the conference’s history.
After his time at Owatonna, Davis took over at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota. Here, he coached the team to three Lake Conference Championships from 2014 until 2016.
Most recently, Davis led Sugar-Salen High School in Idaho to a High Country Conference title in 2020. He has a career record of 1158-199-4 after the 2020 seaoson.
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Professional Achievements
Saint Edward High School
“It (wrestling) makes them responsible for putting their life in order, taking care of their academics, taking care of their wrestling, and working on their weaknesses.” -Greg Urbas
“It (wrestling) makes them responsible for putting their life in order, taking care of their academics, taking care of their wrestling, and working on their weaknesses.” -Greg Urbas
Greg Urbas
Saint Edward High School
Impact Statement
“It (wrestling) makes them responsible for putting their life in order, taking care of their academics, taking care of their wrestling, and working on their weaknesses.” -Greg Urbas
Biography
Urbas had big shoes to fill when he replaced the legendary coach Howard Ferguson as coach of the top wrestling program in Ohio and one of the best in the nation. Known for his tireless efforts to advance all of the wrestlers on to college, Urbas led St. Edward’s to its second straight Division I state title and, with a 17-0 record, a second unofficial national championship in seven years in 1999.
After being honored, he led St. Edward’s for the next 29 years and continued their state and national dominance. Urbas lead St. Ed’s to 24 State Championships, 24 District titles, and 29 Sectional titles during his tenure. The Eagles won 13 straight Ohio Division I State Championships from 1997 until 2009. In addition, he lead them to 4 National Championships.
March of 2018 marked the 35th year that St. Edward’s High School produced at least one NCAA All American, when Dominic Abounader, 2012 Senior National Champ, advanced to the semi finals.
Urbas’ wrestling alumni have gone onto great things including a handful of Olympians, careers in UFC/MMA, and even an Iron Chef.
In 2019, Urbas was honored as part of the inaugural class by receiving the St. Edward’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This special recognition was created to honor Coach Urbas’s outstanding leadership and dedication to students while modeling Holy Cross values.
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Professional Achievements
Personal Honors
Northampton High School
“I love coaching. It’s the only thing I know, wrestling. I have no other hobbies.” -Don Rohn
“I love coaching. It’s the only thing I know, wrestling. I have no other hobbies.” -Don Rohn
Don Rohn
Northampton High School
Impact Statement
“I love coaching. It’s the only thing I know, wrestling. I have no other hobbies.” -Don Rohn
Biography
Rohn was named Coach of the Year in 1999 for leading the Konkrete Kids to their fourth Class AAA state title of the 1990 ‘s. The unofficial national champions in 1993, Northampton finished this season with the # 5 national ranking.
Don Rohn was an incredibly gifted wrestler in his own right. Rohn was Hellertown High School’s first state champ in 1970. In 1971, Hellertown became Saucon Valley High School. In 1971, he became their first state champion. Rohn was a NCAA National Champion his freshman year at Clarion. He then suffered an injury to his hand that changed his course on the wrestling map, but did go on to be an All American twice more with a 3rd and 6th place finish in his Junior and Senior year respectively.
After college, Rohn was the coach at Hazelton High School where he had a record of 83-16 in five years. In 1982, he came back to “the Valley” and took over the reigns at Northampton High School and the rest is history.
Rohn led Northampton to national prominence. The Koncete Kids topped the rankings for the majority of the 1990’s until 2000 when Rohn resigned from Northampton after leading the KKids to another District XI title, a Northeast Region title, and both a PIAA Dual and Individual State Championship (team), finishing with one champion, two runners- up (one being his son Tommy) and 5 other place finishers.
Rohn could not sit in the bleachers very long. After amassing nearly 400 wins in his career, he took on his next role as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Saucon Valley, in 2011, where he sits next to his son Tommy.
Rohn continues to aid the Panthers, who most recently placed fourth at the PIAA AA Team Dual State Championships in March of 2020.
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Professional Achievements
Personal Honors
Poway High School
“I’ve lost the team title and had a state champion and I’ve won the team title without a state champion. You take the good with the bad.” -Wayne Branstetter
“I’ve lost the team title and had a state champion and I’ve won the team title without a state champion. You take the good with the bad.” -Wayne Branstetter
Wayne Branstetter
Poway High School
Impact Statement
“I’ve lost the team title and had a state champion and I’ve won the team title without a state champion. You take the good with the bad.” -Wayne Branstetter
Biography
Wayne’s teams have been among California’s best year after year. Despite the loss of a state place winner to a late season injury, Poway finished a strong third place in their state tournament this year and posted a #17 final national ranking, its third in seven years.
Branstetter took over the reigns in 1978 and led the Titans until 2018 when he hung up those reigns for a fishing rod.
After a 45 year career, including 40 at Poway, Branstetter had alot to boast about, including coach 17 state champions. He coached his team to 28 top-five finishes at the big dance, 10 3rd place finishes, 6 state 2nd place and 4 Team State titles (1986, 1999, 2005 & 2009).
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