Inductees

This four-year varsity wrestler at Workman High School in the City of Industry was a League Champion in 1977 and 1978, 5th at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet to make him a State Qualifier, and Ist Team All-San Gabriel Valley. The AAU Sambo State Champion in 1977 was an NAIA Nationals Qualifier while wrestling at the University of La Verne in 1979. David was an assistant and then head coach at Workman HS from 1979-89, and he coached the Industry Hills Hurricane Youth Wrestling Club at the same time from 1986-89. He’s been coaching at Northview High School in Covina ever since then, while also serving as director of the California Grapplers Wrestling Club in Covina since 1997.

Ochoa has helped Northview HS to become one of the perennial powers of wrestling in the Southern Section. The team has earned 23 Valle Vista League Championships, starting in 1993 and then 22 consecutively from between 1998-2019. The Vikings have won 13 CIF-SS Divisional Championships in 2000, ’02, ’04, ‘06-’08, and 2011-17. Northview also won 11 CIF-SS Dual Meet Championships in 2000, ‘04-’06, 2011, 2012 and 2014-18, and they won CIF-SS Masters Meet Championships in 2004, 2006, 2012 and 2014. They won a California Small School State Championship in 2001.

These many team accomplishments earned David recognition as San Gabriel Valley Coach of the year in 2000, 2002 and 2004, Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year in 2004, U.S. Girls Wrestling Association’s National Coach of the Year in 2008, and California Coaches Association’s Girls Coach of the Year in 2014. His teams were also CIF Boys Academic Champions in 2013 and CIF Girls Academic Champions in 2017. David has enjoyed coaching boys to 71 individual CIF Championships among 201 medalists, 24 CIF-SS Masters Champions among 108 placers, and 3 CIF State Champions among 32 Placers out of 118 State Qualifiers.

Ochoa also won 5 CIF Girls Wrestling Team Championships in 2012-15 and 2017, with 7 State Champions among 41 State Placers, and 20 individual CIF Champions out of 104 Placers. He has coached 58 High School All-Americans including 4 National High School Champions: Chris Lopez, Tatiana Padilla, Brazel Marquez and Bryan Salinas. He coached James Clay, a FILA World Grappling Champion. Padilla was a FILA World Placer twice. Ochoa has served as a CIF Wrestling Advisory Committee member in 1991-92 and 1999-2005, as a board member of the Southern California Wrestling Association 1992-2006, as a board member of Los Angeles Wrestling Association since 2014, and as an associate board member of CAGWA since 1997. David earned a Masters of Education, Coaching and Athletic Administration in 2010.