By Dominic Scianna
Ron Wilson’s Hall of Fame career has been tied to his boy’s teams accomplishments serving as head wrestling coach at Bowen High School, but he made history of a different kind on January 29 at the Chicago Public League (CPL) Wrestling City Championships at De La Salle Institute on Chicago’s Southside.
He coached his lone female wrestler, Monica Griffin (who will be attending Augustana College in the Fall of 2023) to a CPL girl’s wrestling championship in the 120-pound weight class division. What makes this noteworthy is the fact that this is the debut season of girl’s competitive wrestling in the State of Illinois and first in the CPL.
Wilson had a good feeling on day one of the competition that this landmark feat would be accomplished.
“She’s (Griffin) going to win the city title,” he pronounced. “Monica has worked hard and is determined to succeed in whatever she does.”
His prediction came true and it was a fitting close to his 25-Year CPL coaching career at the city championships adding to his legacy of accomplishments which include three city titles (2003, 2004, 2013) and eight regional championships, culminating with his Hall of Fame induction into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) in 2018.
Wilson considers the CPL wrestling city finals to be a special event, not only for coaches, but for Chicago area wrestlers who can call this championship their own – especially when acknowledging how difficult it is to advance through the IHSA state tournament rounds because of the level of competition from all across Illinois.
“The CPL Championships is basically a state tournament for city kids because a lot of times those wrestlers don’t make it Downstate. If our athletes win a city tournament it’s like winning a state championship for them.”
In his final season, Wilson admits to the emotions beginning to swirl as he looks back on his coaching career with pride and inspiration, even in times of grief and despair in his personal life.
“I’ve been in a lot of emotional situations before but the most memorable one was in 2016. I was in the tunnel at the University of Illinois wrestling for the state championship with Bowen’s Brandyn Peacock (220-pound weight division). At that moment, I got a call on my cell phone from my Mom,” said Wilson. “I said Mom, why do you wait to call me right now – and she says ‘Ron your Dad (Dr. Leonard Wilson) just passed away.’ That was tough but my Dad always told me you do a lot for those kids. And I knew my Dad would have wanted me to go on and compete and that’s what I did. Brandyn went on to win the state championship and then I drove home to be with my family and buried my Dad.”
Just as Wilson’s Dad had been a driving force and inspiration in his life, the Bowen coach had that same effect on his wrestlers. One in particular, Nathaniel “Nate” Nelson, far removed from his wrestling days in high school (2000-2004), related a story about Coach Wilson inspiring him to become a Chicago Police Officer in the near future.
“This man (Coach Wilson) has been very influential in my life,” said Nelson. “I never even thought about wrestling and he recruited me one day and I fell in love with the sport. He was and is a Father figure because I didn’t have that in my life. I’m 36 years old now and I still call him for advice. He was the one who thought I’d make a good police officer, so I applied because of him. He’s so much more than just a coach to me.”
Born in Chicago and wrestling as a starter all four years (2000-2004) at Hirsch High School, Wilson’s life has come full circle as he takes one last curtain call coaching in the IHSA state regional tournament this February.
“What wrestling has done for me is it taught me how to be humble and not take anything for granted,” Wilson admitted. “My wrestling coach in high school (Charles Frazier) saw that I had holes in my gym shoes after one practice (during the Chicago Blizzard of 1979) and took me to get boots and another pair of gym shoes. I said is there anything I can do for you, coach, and he said when you get into a position to help somebody else you do the same thing. I took that advice to heart and that’s what I’ve been doing my whole career.”
