PORT ANGELES — Erik Gonzalez, the Port Angeles High School coach and mentor who instilled confidence and inspired legions of wrestlers from the youth level through high school, is leaving the community.
After 13 years as both head wrestling coach at Port Angeles High School and the head coach of the youth Olympic Mountain Wrestling Club, Gonzalez, 43, and his family are moving to Vancouver, Wash.
Gonzalez will take over the wrestling program and teach history classes at Class 4A Heritage High School starting this fall.
“Leaving a top-five team that I believe can win a state championship to rebuild another was an incredibly difficult decision,” Gonzalez said in a statement released by the school.
“But this decision ultimately came down to what is best for my family at this time.
“My wife and I are looking for more of the opportunities for our children that a larger metropolitan area will provide.”
“Having said that, we have thoroughly enjoyed our years here in Port Angeles and will miss it immensely. We will especially miss the many people, too numerous to name here, who have supported us in so many ways over all of these years.”
Reached Wednesday, Gonzalez went into more detail about his decision.
“The wrestling is secondary, honestly,” Gonzalez said.
“This isn’t a step up for me. I’ve worked hard to build this program into a contender, and I’m proud of where we’ve come from, and I feel strongly this team can compete for a state championship next season.”
Heritage has a strong wrestling tradition having won a state team title in 2003, but it has fallen on hard times recently.
Gonzalez, who poured countless hours into the Roughriders squad and into forming the Olympic Mountain Wrestling Club, feels it’s time to give back to his family, wife Angela, and his children Israel, 11, and Elena, 7.
“Like I told the team, this isn’t a wrestling move for me, my decision has nothing to do with them or the Port Angeles program,” Gonzalez said.
“My family has sacrificed so much for me for so many years that it’s about time to start giving back a little bit.”
Gonzalez said the activities his kids are involved with were the biggest factor in the move.
“My daughter loves gymnastics, loves theater and acting, and Israel, in addition to wrestling, he loves soccer,” Gonzalez said.
“To partake in the various events that our kids are involved in we won’t have to be on the road as much living in Vancouver.
“And age-wise, it’s a good time for the kids to move.”
Gonzalez’s impact in Port Angeles was felt soon after he arrived for the 2002-03 school year.
He guided two-time state participant Julio Garcia to the school’s first-ever state championship in February of 2003.
In a move with even more impact, Gonzalez launched the Olympic Mountain Wrestling Club that same spring, a nonprofit youth wrestling organization that competes in freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions around the state.
“My first year, the high school team had about 25 kids out,” Gonzalez said.
“So, first thin,g I knew we had to get that club going and I knew we needed to get a top-notch camp to attract some people here, garner some recognition for the sport of wrestling in this town.”
Gonzalez founded the Olympic Mountain Wrestling Camp in the summer of 2003, and bringing in two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Bruce Baumgartner to motivate attendees.
Gonzalez was quick to note the club will continue.
“The club is not going anywhere,” Gonzalez said.
“My coaches and I recognize its been an integral part of building the high school program.”
Gonzalez expects his assistant coaches Rob Gale Steve Anderson and Toby Abrams to share club duties.
“All three have children in the club, young kids too, so I have no doubt they will continue,” Gonzalez said.
“They will probably share responsibilities, honestly.”
He also founded the now-annual Battle for the Axe in 2004, an early-season high school tournament.
“I’m not taking the Axe,” Gonzalez joked about the tournament’s namesake trophy.
Fortunes improved dramatically after Gonzalez and wrestling supporters advocated for the reintroduction of the long-dormant middle school wrestling program in 2007.
“We pushed real hard to get the middle school program restarted,” Gonzalez said.
“I greatly appreciate the school board for their help.
“Once we got that going, the kids not only came into high school knowing our system, but we used to have so many kids who would show up as freshman never having seen a match let alone wrestled.
“After that we really started seeing the numbers increase up to about 50 kids each year.”
The program produced two more state champions: John Camp went a perfect 40-0 to take the heavyweight title in 2009 and Matt Robbins capped his career with a 195-pound triumph in February.
Including the title winners, Gonzalez’s Riders teams produced 22 state placers and five academic state champions.
Port Angeles has won three of the past four Olympic League titles, the first league titles in program history going back to the program’s founding in 1963.
Under Gonzalez, the Riders have strung together three straight top-10 team finishes at Mat Classic, eighth in 2013, ninth in 2014 and fifth this past season.
“I’d thought I’d be here the rest of my career, the rest of my life, really,” Gonzalez said.
“I do believe the talent is in place at Port Angeles for the team to win a title next year.
“And when they win it and they go to take the team picture, I’ll be in front and be their biggest fan cheering them on.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
