Ivan Iavanov Resigns At USOEC

[lauden swain]

Not good for our guys up in Marguette but yet another opportunity for World Class Greco training here in the United States. I think that ultimately, this further helps our development in greco.
Jag, what is going to happen now in Marquette? Who are the frontrunners? Will Gruenwald return?
Why doesn't USAW wise up and just hand the reins of our greco program over to Ivanov?

Lauden




Ivanov to leave USOEC program in the fall for private coaching position in Idaho
Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
07/10/2009
Ivan Ivanov, the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) program for Greco-Roman wrestling at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., has submitted his resignation from the position.

Ivanov will assume the head coaching position for a new wrestling business in Boise, Idaho, taking over his new role in October 2009. The start-up company has not yet been named, but among his partners in the venture are 2005 World bronze medalist Justin Ruiz and businessman Russell Bronson.

“I made this decision just this week,” said Ivanov. “After visiting Boise and meeting with Russell and Justin, I decided to move forward to take the challenge and lead this program.”

Ivanov will train Senior-level athletes in Boise, most who are out of college and pursuing international Greco-Roman goals. He will also help develop young wrestlers in the community who will compete in the Greco-Roman style.

In addition, Ivanov will devote considerably more time to his business, Suples, which designs, manufactures and markets wrestling training products.

“I have many ideas for my company,” said Ivanov. “I see that this new position will give me a great opportunity to concentrate on my business. I want Supples to grow. I have established its name in the market. It is my motivation to develop my ideas even further. I will take this challenge and see what happens.”

Ivanov will continue working with the U.S. Senior Greco-Roman program this summer, helping prepare his three USOEC athletes on the 2009 Greco-Roman World Team for the World Championships: Spenser Mango (55 kg), Harry Lester (74 kg) and Chas Betts (84 kg). He will also attend the World Championships in Herning, Denmark in late September as a member of the World Team coaching staff.

He will return to Marquette after the World Championships and assist in the transition for the new USOEC head coach before moving to Idaho for his new job later in October.

Considered one of the top Greco-Roman wrestling coaches in the world, Ivanov served over seven years as the head coach of the USOEC program, developing numerous national champions and All-Americans on the Senior and age-group levels within USA Wrestling.

Among his star pupils are Lester, a two-time World bronze medalist, and Mango, a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. An athlete who also worked with Ivanov at Northern Michigan was 2008 Olympic Greco-Roman bronze medalist Adam Wheeler.

Ivanov will continue to help recruit athletes to the USOEC program, including meeting with talented young prospects at the Junior and Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D. in late July. He also plans on remaining active with USA Wrestling’s National Greco-Roman program as a volunteer coach.

“I am supporting USA Wrestling’s Greco-Roman program,” said Ivanov. “I would like to work very closely with (National Greco-Roman Coach) Steve Fraser and USA Wrestling to build our entire program. I look forward to working with the national coaching staff and the new coaches at Northern Michigan in the future.”

USA Wrestling has begun the hiring process for the head coach and assistant coach position for the USOEC Greco-Roman program, with the goal of attracting the most qualified internationally-respected professional Greco-Roman coaches available for this important developmental program. USOEC assistant coach Jim Gruenwald recently resigned to take the head coaching position at Wheaton College and a management post with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“The program in Marquette is the best program for that age-group,” said Ivanov. “There is no doubt about that. I am sure USA Wrestling will make the best decision to find the perfect replacements for us. Every kid who likes to wrestle Greco-Roman should go there. The program we established in Marquette has it all. You have champions, mats, facilities, coaches, a college education and a tradition of excellence.”

Ivanov came to the USOEC program after working as the coach for three years with the Treehouse Athletic Club in Utah. Ivanov has coached numerous USA Wrestling Greco-Roman All-Americans on the age-group level from the Treehouse Athletic Club.

Prior to joining the Treehouse Athletic Club, Ivanov served as a coach with USA Wrestling as part of the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident program in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Ivanov is a Gold-Level certified coach in USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Eduation Program. He has coached a number of U.S. teams in international competition. Ivanov was the assistant coach of the 2001 U.S. Junior World Greco-Roman team.

Ivanov received a diploma as a wrestling instructor from the Bulgarian Army Sports Program, where he also trained as a world-class athlete.

Ivanov was a silver medalist at the 1994 Greco-Roman World Championships at 136.5 pounds. He placed fifth in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and was fourth in the 1995 European Championships.

[J_Curby]

From what I have heard, there are no front runners as of right now. It will be interesting. It is a shame that USA wrestling wasnt able to keep Jim or Ivan.

[Jaguar]

Unlike the post on the themat.com, the USOEC program is not dead. USA Wrestling remains committed to the OEC program. Both Ivanov and Gruenwald leave on good terms and will remain involved with USA Wrestling. The younger guys at the OEC are concerned, no doubt, about what the future will bring there. They lose, perhaps, the best Greco coach in the country, but this will also be an opportunity for aspiring Greco coaches. Things will be different, but change is not always a bad thing. The younger guys need to make the most out of the opportunity they have and continue to focus on their development and make their own way with whoever takes over the progam. In the end, it is not the coached, but the athletes who earn their ways to the top.

The opportunity that Coach Ivanov is pursuing is something like the Foxcatcher facility that duPont provided, hopefully absent the crazy money guy. It is a great opportunity for senior level Greco guys to train and earn money after they graduate from college, something the OTC does not really offer. The fact that the senior level wrestlers at Northern Michigan would rather follow Ivanov to Boise, ID, instead heading off to the OTC in Colorado Springs, speaks volumes about the respect and confidence those guys have in him. Coach Ivanov took the OEC program to new levels. Not only did he make Northern Michigan the premiere place for younger Greco guys to train and develop, but those young Greco guys have dominated the University level and have significantly impacted the Senior level of Greco wrestling in the US. Present and former USOEC guys represent a majority of the 2009 Senior World Team.