| Dan Hicks |
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 | Position:
Head Coach (9th season)
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| Alma Mater:
Oregon State
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| Graduated:
1980
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The resurgence of the Cal State Fullerton wrestling program under
eighth-year Head Coach Dan Hicks has been sudden yet methodical. The
"overnight success" has been the result of fundamental values instilled in
the program by Hicks and adopted by the wrestlers.
Now, facing an unprecedented state budget crisis, Hicks and the local wrestling community are faced with the task of saving the program by funding its entire operation.
In 2002-03, confidence was restored when the Titans ended a five-year
Pac-10 losing streak and just missed posting a winning dual meet record at
9-10. They moved up two notches at the Pac-10 Championships and sent four
qualifiers to the NCAA Championships.
In 2003-04, the Titans came within one controversial decision of winning
the Pac-10 Championship, settling for third place, their highest place ever.
Fullerton totaled 89.5 points to trail only Boise State (94.5) and Cal Poly
SLO (91.0).
In 2004-05, theTitans posted a school-record .763 winning percentage for
dual meets with a 14-4-1 slate, which equalled the mark for most wins and
would have broken it had Hicks not let an injury-riddled opponent out of its
contracted late-season match.
In 2007-08, the Titans were in the hunt for the Pac-10 championship after winning all but one regular season Pac-10 dual match to go 8-1 and 14-5 overall. But Sauer suffered a career-ending injury in the final bout of the final regular season match at Northern Colorado and the Titans placed fifth despite piling up their most points ever at the finals. Atkinson became the first Titan to repeat as conference champion in 28 years.
Last year saw the Titans host the Pac-10 Championships. An 11-6 regular season and a 5-3 mark in Pac-10 dual meets was tarnished by a disappointing eighth-place showing in the championships.
A long dormant community and alumni support base has been invigorated
and the potential for California's only Div. I wrestling program south of
the Tehachapi Mountains is robust if the fundraising materializes. Hicks has worked tirelessly at
clinics and tournaments to bring a personal message of the program's
improved strength. High school wrestling days at the season's opening
afternoon match have averaged better than 1,000 wrestlers in attendance.
An assistant coach the previous five years at Oregon State where he
wrestled at 142 pounds and won NCAA championships in 1978 and 1979, Hicks
replaced Ardeshir Asgari, who retired after 10 years at the post.
"I have recruited wrestlers from California and have been impressed with
the quality of the wrestling and the dedication of the coaches both at the
high school and junior college levels," said Hicks upon his June, 2002,
hiring. "Because of its location, Cal State Fullerton has tremendous
potential to be competitive at the Pac-10s and the NCAA Tournament."
Selected the NCAA']s wrestler of the decade for his weight class in the
1970s, Hicks preaches an aggressive, attacking style of wrestling based upon
superior conditioning. His immediate results with the Titans were
remarkable as they won their first three dual meets including Pac-10 wins
over UC Davis and Stanford. Fullerton hadn't won a Pac-10 dual match in
five years yet they finished with a 3-5 mark for Hicks and his all-volunteer
staff.
The 2003-04 team lacked the necessary depth to compete consistently in
dual matches but the quality was there. Besides the strong showing at the
Pac-10s, the Titans were third at the California Collegiate Invitational in
San Francisco and tenth at the Reno Tournament of Champions. The Titans
doubled their number of NCAA qualifiers from two to four led by Pac-10
125-pound champion Jesse Miramontes.
In 2004-05 the Titans lost only four dual meets but managed only an
eighth-place showing at the Pac-10s at Cal Poly. Still, they had a pair of
Pac-10 champions for the first time in Juan Mora (141) and Leonel Sanchez
(174) and sent three qualifiers to the NCAAs.
In 2005-06 the Titans struggled in Pac-10 dual matches, losing all seven to bog down the overall record at 6-12. But they still managed a pair of NCAA qualifiers in Jesse Taylor at 184 and Morgan Atkinson at 149.
In 2006-07 the Titans produced four NCAA qualifiers with a Pac-10 champ in Atkinson and an All-American in Sauer, who placed sixth at the NCAA Championships after a third-place showing at the Pac-10 meet.
Hicks, a native of Corvallis, Oregon, graduated from OSU with a degree
in applied physical education (1980) and later earned a master¹s degree in
counseling (1990) from OSU. He is a licensed professional counselor and
worked for the Beavers in that capacity from 1989 to 1997, when he became
the top assistant to Coach Joe Wells.
Hicks was inducted into the Oregon State Wrestling and Sports Halls of
Fame. He began his coaching career with Athletes in Action in 1979 in Long
Beach, California, and moved up through the high school ranks in Oregon. He
served one year as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon State in 1988-89.
Hicks' wife, Jill, is a former OSU gymnast and was an assistant women¹s
gymnastics coach at Oregon State. She joined the Titans' staff in a similar
position and now is in her fourth season as head coach. They have three children -- daughters Jenna and Jesse and son Jordan and live in Rancho Santa Margarita. Dan's father, Ron, and
his brother, Mike, also were wrestlers for the Beavers.
Hicks became only the fourth wrestling coach at Fullerton, succeeding
Don Matson (1968-82), Dan Lewis (1983-92) and Asgari (1993-02), who moved to Nicaragua.
