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Familiar face to lead Golden Bears and Pandas wrestling
EDMONTON - After four years away Owen Dawkins is returning to
the University of Alberta wrestling mats, and Athletics is pleased
to announce that Dawkins has agreed to become the next head coach
of the Golden Bears and Pandas' wrestling program.
Dawkins comes back to the Golden Bears and Pandas after serving as
the head coach for the Lakehead University Thunderwolves since
2005-06. In his time at Lakehead he was named the Ontario
University Athletics (OUA) men's wrestling Coach of the Year
(2005-06), and guided the Lakehead men's team to a CIS bronze in
2007-08. He coached 23 student-athletes to national and senior age
group medals, and under his guidance the Thunderwolves never
finished below fifth at the CIS championships on the men's side,
while the women's team had three sixth place finishes and one
seventh place finish.
He wrestled as a Golden Bear in the 90 kg weight class, under
former head coach Vang Ioannides, from 1999 until 2001, winning CIS
gold and a team bronze in 2001 and two Canada West gold medals. To
cap off his final season as an athlete with the U of A, he was also
honoured with the Beaumont Cup as the MVP of the Golden Bears
wrestling program. Dawkins also won 15 senior and national age
group medals as an athlete, and represented the U of A and Canada
at the 2000 FISU World University Wrestling Championships in Tokyo,
Japan, placing fourth.
"This is a great opportunity to come back to the program that
taught me so much as an athlete, as a coach and as a person," said
Dawkins. "I look forward to the opportunity to work in a program so
rich with tradition. Filling the shoes of former coach Vang
Ioannides will be a challenging task, one that I am sure will be
made easier by the fact that I can just go up the stairs, and ask
for his advice when needed."
After closing out his days as a CIS athlete, Dawkins joined the U
of A wrestling coaching ranks, signing on as one of Ioannides'
assistant coaches in 2002 until 2005. Prior to that he coached at
WP Wagner High School (2000 to 2003) where he won two city
championships and one provincial championship. From 2003 to 2005,
Dawkins taught and coached at McNally High School where he won the
city and provincial championships and he was also named the Alberta
Amateur Wrestling Association's outstanding school coach in 2003
and 2005.
"We are excited that Owen will be returning to the Golden Bears and
Pandas' wrestling program," exclaimed Ioannides, now an Associate
Athletic Director. "He was an outstanding competitor and cut his
teeth coaching here, and in the city of Edmonton. His years at
Lakehead have been extremely productive, and he has proven to be a
top recruiter. He has the ability to elevate our program and we
believe that he will."
Source:
Matt Gutsch
University of Alberta
