Former LHS wrestling coach Kent Olson takes his impressive skills to Dinuba High School

"It is our great pleasure to welcome Kent Olson to the Emperor family as our new head wrestling coach at Dinuba High School," said Freitas in a Facebook post. "Coach Olson is taking over for Michael Wright, who was recently named the athletic director for Redwood High School. Olson brings 45 years of coaching experience at the high school and junior college level in which he has achieved tremendous success for both," continued Freitas, a former student and athlete at Lemoore High School.

Olson served 20 years at Lemoore High, where he put together one of the most impressive coaching stints in Central Section wrestling history. The talented coach put together an overall record of  331-32-1. His teams won 17 valley championships, 13 Division Championships, all while coaching four CIF state champions.

Olson spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Santa Maria's Pioneer Valley High School. He won a section championship last year while commuting between Lemoore and Santa Maria.

Before Pioneer Valley, Olson spent ten years as the head coach for West Hills Junior College, leading the Golden Eagles to three conference titles and a pair of regional championships.

"This is my 45th year coming up as a coach and 42 years as a teacher," said Olson when contacted by The Leader. "I enjoyed it the last three years at Pioneer Valley High School, and that may have been my best three years of coaching," he said.

He was named the Wrestling Coach of the Year seven times. During that time, he also served as the president of the California Community College Wrestling Federation.

Olson told The Leader that Freitas contacted him. "He asked me to come over and do some talking. I hoped it was about wrestling," he recalled. "I told him what I was doing at Pioneer Valley."

Freitas liked what he heard. "With all of the accomplishments wrestlers have achieved under Olson's tutelage, what impresses us the most is the fact that he knows the most important kids he will coach are the kids that need the program more than the program needs them," said Freitas. "He is a transformational coach, and I have seen him turn kids that have never wrestled before high school into champions on the mat and in life.

Like most coaches, Olson may have to wait a while before starting his new coaching tenure, thanks to the Coronavirus. While Dinuba's board of trustees approved his selection at its Thursday night meeting, Olson said it wouldn't be until February at the latest that Dinuba's wrestlers may take the mat.

Olson, 66, was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014 and is currently the second-winningest coach in California high school history.