Black to coach U.S. Women's World Team
August 28, 2009 | Wrestling
Former Badger wrestler Kevin Black (1999-03) has been named to the coaching staff of the 2009 U.S. Women's Freestyle World Team, USA Wrestling announced Thursday. Black joins former UW assistant coach and current national women's coach Terry Steiner and Keith Wilson on the coaching staff as the women's team prepares for the 2009 World Championships in Herning, Denmark from Sept. 23-25.
'It is great to have the opportunity to represent Team USA,' Black told TheMat.com. 'I am fortunate I have been seen as an asset to the program. It is an honor to live my dream and help Team USA to win gold medals. This is an interesting group and I am intrigued by the dynamics of women's wrestling at this time. We have a good group that will be training together for four years and will have a lot of unity and bonding. I think we can be the best team in the world by 2012. We are at a point where I think women's wrestling in the United States will take off.'
Black is no stranger to the women's wrestling scene as he coached the 2007 U.S. Women's World Team in Baku, Azerbaijan. During his first stint with the world team, Black helped coach the team to a fifth-place finish with silver medalist Katie Downing and bronze medalists Sara McMann and Kristie Marano.
He worked as the women's club coach for the New York AC, which won the women 's team title at the 2009 U.S. National Championships. He has extensive international experience, coaching the USA Wrestling Senior women's teams on tours through Russia, Poland and Canada. Black also coached age-group women's teams, taking the U.S. University women's team to compete in El Salvador in 2007 and the U.S. Cadet women's team to China in 2006.
Black also serves as the commissioner of the Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA), the organization that oversees women's college freestyle wrestling. He is also the coach of the women's wrestling club program at the Univ. of Wisconsin-River Falls which competes in the WCWA.
While at Wisconsin, Black was an All-American in 2004, placing fourth at 133 lbs. He worked as an assistant coach with the Badgers for a number of years after graduation before moving back to his hometown of River Falls, Wis., to open the Victory School of Wrestling.
Black is not the only member of the Badger family that will be in Denmark for the 2009 World Championships. New assistant coach Jared Frayer is an alternate on the men's freestyle team at 66 kg/145.5 lbs.
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