La Grande Wrestling Coach Selected as Coach of the Year by OACA
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from the La Grande School District) The La Grande School District is pleased to announce that the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association (OACA) has named Klel Carson as OACA Wrestling Coach of the Year.
Carson is the varsity wrestling coach at La Grande High School. He has been a wrestling coach for 30 years and has coached 28 individual state champions and four state champion teams. Carson has been awarded multiple district and state honors, been a cultural exchange coach to Japan and Europe and was inducted into the La Grande High School Hall of Fame.
Carson said he has had the greatest assistant coaches, middle school coaches and youth coaches throughout the years of the LHS wrestling program. “Those coaches have all had huge impacts on our athletes’ lives as well as my own. We all learn from each other, which makes for a great team and wrestling community,” Carson said.
In addition, Carson said he feels he has been blessed to have had an influence on so many young athletes over the years, who have also had an impact on him. “I’ve seen wrestling change a lot of lives, help kids to become champions in life, great parents and great people!”
OACA will honor and recognize Coach Carson at the OACA Awards Banquet in Eugene on May 27th.
