Our Nov. 2 morning meeting featured a presentation about women’s wrestling and Olympic experience from Kevin Black, a local wrestling legend and currently the head wrestling coach at River Falls High School. Women’s wrestling has been around for a long time; it was added to the Olympics in 2004. In 2016, Kevin traveled to Rio de Janeiro as a coach for the first and only American Olympic Gold Medalist in women’s wrestling.
Kevin Black on Women’s Wresting: As he progressed through years of competing and coaching, Kevin told us that he never contemplated coaching female athletes in the sport. When his former coach told Kevin that he had been named the US Women’s national team coach, Kevin was surprised to say the least. His epiphany was realizing that his goals in the sport were not “gender specific” (his words.)
Kevin told us that he has learned through women’s wrestling and being around elite women athletes – including Liz, his wife – that they approach sport and life differently. His perspective on the sport was changed by seeing world championships in the women’s sport. He took a group of young athletes to China as their coach.
With few coaches, Kevin rose quickly in women’s coaching ranks. He has seen women athletes move to places where there are opportunities to get coaching and train for high-level wrestling. Accompanying Kevin and his wife Liz at our meeting were several athletes who have moved here to train with Kevin at his Victory School of Wrestling in River Falls. At the highest level, Kevin coached the only American woman gold medalist in wrestling at the Games in Rio in 2016.
He conveyed four principles he’s developed and applied to coaching and life: hard work is #1, but we we also have to work hard at the easy stuff.
- One – Body/mind/soul. Separate what we do from who we are.
- Two – work hard at what comes easy; know who we are.
- Three – work hard until it’s hardly work.
- Four – work hard at what matters most.
About Kevin Black. River Falls native Kevin Black has a storied career in the sport of wrestling. Growing up on a local dairy farm, he started wrestling in kindergarten. Read more about Kevin as a wrestler and coach from the Wisconsin Wrestling Hall of Fame.