Dawkins named Alberta wrestling head coach

University of Alberta Athletics is pleased to announce that Owen Dawkins has been named the Head Coach of the Golden Bears and Pandas wrestling program.

The appointment was made by Dr. Ian Reade, Director of Athletics, and promotes Dawkins from the Interim position he had held since 2009, when he took over for 17-year head coach Vang Ioannides, who is now an Associate Athletic Director.

Dawkins has now come full circle with the U of A wrestling program; he was a Canada West and CIS champion competitor under Ioannides from 1999 until 2001, and then served as an assistant coach from 2002 until 2005. He then left Edmonton for a head coaching opportunity with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves, where he was named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) wrestling Coach of the Year (2005-06) and guided the Lakehead men's team to a CIS bronze in 2007-08.

He returned to the U of A in 2009 as Interim head coach, when Ioannides joined Athletics Administration, and is coming off a season in which the Pandas won their first-ever CIS championship in program history and he himself was named CIS women's wrestling coach of the year.

"I am deeply honoured to be the head coach of the Golden Bears and Pandas wrestling teams. This is the program I wrestled with and the institution where I earned my degree. I will continue to push our athletes along the path that I started in 2009. My goal, for both our Golden Bears and Pandas wrestling teams, is to be among the best varsity and club programs in the country, while striving to put athletes on National Junior and Senior teams," stated Dawkins.

As a Golden Bear grappler in the 90 kg weight class, Dawkins won two Canada West gold medals, and a CIS gold medal, which helped the Bears to a national team bronze in 2001. That same year, he was also honoured with the Beaumont Cup as the MVP of the Golden Bears wrestling program. He also won 15 senior and national age group medals as an athlete, and represented the U of A and Canada at the 1997 Pan Am Championships, finishing second, and at the 2000 FISU World University Wrestling Championships in Tokyo, Japan, placing fourth.

Source:

Alberta Sports Info