6A Coach of the Year - 2002

MIKE GARCIA
Hutchinson High School

The 6A coaches voted Hutchinson High School’s Mike Garcia as their Coach of the Year as he led his team to an exciting 6A state championship that came down to the finals. The Hutchinson 215-pound wrestler scored a hard-fought victory over a two-time defending state champion for his team to move into the lead for the first-place trophy. Garcia’s Salthawks captured the title after putting together a perfect 9-0 dual record that also captured them the AVL team championship.

Garcia has coached at Hutchinson for eight years, after having coached in Oklahoma for 11 years at Cordell and Blackwell High Schools. He has won two team state championships and finished in the top five on seven different occasions. He has coached 12 individual state champions and 52 state place winners.

Garcia was also a highly successful wrestler himself in his competition days. He won two individual state championships and was on two state championship teams in high school. At Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo., Garcia was a two-time NCAA Division II All-American and won a national championship for the Mules.

Garcia currently teaches Physical Education at Hutchinson High School and also serves as the school’s gymnastics coach. He has worked one year as the Junior Team Director for the Kansas National Freestyle/Greco-Roman team, which competes at the national level.