Wayne Branstetter Information (as of 2/27/2011)

Coach Branstetter's career as a high school wrestling coach has spanned almost four decades. During that time he has received many awards and recognitions. He teams and wrestlers have had much success. Below is some information on his long career.

Personal and Career

• Birthday: September 26, 1950
• Born and raised in Billings, Montana
• Started wrestling in 1963 in 8th grade at Lincoln Junior High in Billings, Montana
• 1965 – moved to Port Hueneme, California & Wrestled at Hueneme High School 3 years
• 1968-70 - Wrestled @Ventura Junior College - Western State Conference Champion @142lbs. MVP/Team Captain
• 1971-72 - Wrestled @Chico State University - Far Western State Conference Runner-up - NCAA Qualifier
• 1971 - Fargo, North Dakota - MVP/Team Captain
• 1972 - BA degree from Chico State
• 1975 - Master's Degree in Education from Cal Lutheran

Head Wrestling Coach - 37 years

• 1973-1978 - Channel Islands High School - Oxnard, CA
  
  Coach Branstetter started his coaching and teaching career at Channel Island High School in Oxnard where he started and built their wrestling program. Under Coach Branstetter’s leadership, Channel Islands turned into a power house in Ventura County, and at one point they went undefeated in dual meets over a four year span with a 49-0 record. His 1977 and 1978 teams placed 4th in the CIF Championships
• 1978-Present - Poway High School - Poway, CA

Team Accomplishments

• Dual Meet Record - 400 wins, 6 losses, 2 ties
• California Dual Meet Record - 157 consecutive wins over 17 years. (Coach Branstetter & Poway High were unbeaten in dual meets from his hire in 1978 to 1991. During that time, PHS won 157 dual meets before losing to #1 HS Team in the nation in a dual meet in Oklahoma.)
• 39 Career League Titles (35 League Titles (PHS)
• 31 CIF Championships
• 28 Masters Championships
• 4 State Championships (1986, 1999, 2005, 2009)
• 4 State Runner-Up Finishes (1992, 2003, 2006, 2007)
• 21 times Top 5 in the State Finals Note: only 2 high schools - Clovis & Poway - have ever had 21 or more top 5 finishes in the History of the California State Tournament. Clovis has 22, but Coach Branstetter/PHS have 21 in 25 years and 15 top 5 in a row, more than any other high school program in the state's history. Clovis started their top five entries in 1973.

Individual Wrestler Awards

• 12 State Champions
• 18 State Champion Runners-up
• 93 State Medalists
• 272 State Qualifiers
• 110 Masters Champions
• 185 CIF Champions

Additional Awards & Recognition

• 2010 National High School Representative for the NWCA
• 2010 Inducted into the California Coaches Association (CCA) Hall of Fame
• 2008-2009 State High School Coach of the Year – National Wrestling Hall of Fame – California Chapter
• 2006 Inducted into the “Ventura Junior College Hall of Fame”
• 2005 Selected “National Coach of the Year” by NWCA – National Wrestling Coaches Association
• 2005 San Diego Hall of Champions – Male Coach of the Year (All Sports)
• 2004 Inducted into the “California Wrestling Hall of Fame”.
• 2000 and 2001 West Section Coach of the Year - National Federation of High School Associations
• 2001 National Wrestling Coach of the Year - National Federation of High School Associations
• 1997 Inducted into the “National Wrestling Hall of Fame” - Stillwater, Oklahoma – Lifetime Service Award
• 1998 National Coach of the Year - National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA)
• 1996 Section Coach of the Year - National Federation Intercollegiate Coaches Association (NFICA)
• 1980-1990 North County Times “Coach of the Decade”
• 1993 Coach of the Year - California Coaches Association
• 1993 “Hall of Champions” Award - High School Sports Association
• 12 times San Diego Coaches’ Association “Coach of the Year”
• Mid-1970’s: President of the United States Wrestling Federation.

Colorful Quotes

Coach Branstetter is well known for colorful and inspirational statements about wrestling, winning, and life. Here are a few examples. If you know of others, please email them to info@powaywrestling.com.

• “When all is said and done, it's just a game and it's not bigger than life. Try not to worry about it too much. After all, a match is just six minutes of your life.”
• “Fatigue makes Cowards of us all"
• "You play golf, you play football, basketball, baseball etc. you don't play wrestling, wrestling is a metaphor for life"
• “You have to understand the measurement of success sometimes comes in not where you wanted them to end up, but how far they've come. I've asked a lot of these kids to step up, and they've done that. I can't fault the kids. The majority of them wrestled as hard as they could possibly wrestle.”
• “In 365 days he went from agony to the thrill of victory. He learned to handle the pressure, which is something he didn't do last year. That's a very hard thing for a kid to do. It was a lesson well-learned.”
• "The kids going (today) have an uphill battle. That was a huge pillar we lost. But he's a 17-year-old kid and predicting what they'll do is like playing the stock market."
• “I've been on both ends of the spectrum. 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.”
• "Hungry dogs run faster"
• "Don't let the scale become your opponent"
• “When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher."
• “Legs feed the wolf”
• "After wrestling everything else in life is easy"
• “Discipline yourself and others won't have to”
• "You can whip a donkey and all it will do is whine and complain...but if you whip a thoroughbred, it will give you everything it’s got. Are you a donkey or a thoroughbred?"
• "When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher.
• “You have to beat the best to be the best”
• "Ya' gotta reach down in the gut bag..."
• "You gotta beat somebody to be somebody"
• "You don't have to talk. When you you're good, people will do the talking for you”