Inductees
Ron Wilson
Year: 2022
Gender: Male
About Ron:
Ron was drawn to the sport of wrestling at the age of 11. He was a Junior High State Champion in Wyoming. His family moved to Ventura County in 1967, and at Camarillo High School, he became Ventura County’s first four-time wrestling League Champion. Wilson was a two-time CIF Southern Section runner-up. He then wrestled at UC-Santa Barbara where he was a Team Captain, Conference Runner-Up, and NCAA Qualifier.
Wilson recently retired after serving as a head wrestling coach for 40 years with a dual match record of 475-199-2. He spent his first 13 years at Oxnard High School, and then he coached at his alma mater for the last 27 years. His teams won 10 league championships, one CIF Southern Section title and earned eight Top-10 finishes. Ron has coached 10 individual CIF Champions, 20 State Qualifiers, 17 State Placers, three national high school qualifiers and two high school All-Americans. He was selected as the Pacific View League Coach of the Year twice. His team tied the national record for the most points scored in a wrestling dual meet.
As a National Bronze Certified Wrestling Coach, Wilson has gone far beyond the Ventura County borders. Ron was an assistant coach on the World Elite Team, and he was the national Head Coach for teams traveling to Russia and Poland in 1996 and 1997. He was the Head Coach of the Olympic Festival and assistant training site director for the 1984 Olympic Games. Wilson is also part of the Wrestling National Coaching Staff and a USA Wrestling World Cup and Championship Team Liaison.
In 1994, the Los Angeles Daily News named Wilson the Coach of the Year. He was a Disney Apple Excellence Award Nominee and given the Oxnard Union High School Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He was honored as Educator of the Year by the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and recognized as a CIF-Southern Section Model Coach. Ron was named as the 2015 Coastal Conference Coach of the Year, and he was honored as the Educator of the Month in 2016.
Ron also coached Camarillo youth soccer, track and softball teams for 22 years. He shares this honor with his high school sweetheart, Kathie Wilson, for always being supportive throughout his teaching and coaching career, and also with his children Erin, Corey and his hero Kylie Wilson, and his grandchildren Cameron, Finn and Huxley. He has also been inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame, and he continues to help Ventura County grow in wrestling.
