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David Ray enters his fifth year as the head coach of the SIUEwrestling program. Ray is leading the Cougar in a new era, competing in theSouthern Conference (SoCon) for the first time during the 2012-13season. SIUE is fully eligible for all postseason events, includingthe NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The last four seasons under Ray has been building blocks forSIUE's future. The Cougars face a difficult schedule with 25 dualmeets. SIUE has four Big Ten competitors on the schedule. And theSoCon regular season has the Cougars facing dual meets withAppalachian State, Campbell, Chattanooga, Citadel, Davidson,Gardner-Webb, and VMI culminating with the SoCon Championships inLexington, Va., March 9. SIUE competed for the final time last season at the NCWANational Championships, placing seventh and collecting its thirdindividual national champion. In dual meets, the Cougars haveposted a 16-51-1 record during the move to Division I. Prior to coming to SIUE, Ray was the head wrestling coach atMontana State University-Northern for 12 years. In 2012, Ray washonored as a member of the Hall of Fame at MSU-Northern. In his time at MSU-Northern, Ray produced 85 All-Americans and21 national champions from 1993-2005. Ray led the Northern Lightsto four NAIA national team titles and was named the NAIA NationalCoach of the Year four times. He was also named the Northern RegionCoach of the Year 10 of his 12 years. While coaching atMSU-Northern, Coach Ray's wrestlers received the "OutstandingWrestler" Award six times at the national championships, and he hada wrestler place in the prestigious Midlands Tournament sixtimes. Ray coached one of only six individual four-time nationalchampions in the 58-year history of the NAIA Championships. In 2004his team tied a 46-year-old record with five individual nationalchampions. One of Ray's most thrilling achievements was thedevelopment of 2004 Dan Hodge Trophy-winner Emmett Willson. The DanHodge Trophy, often referred to as the "Heisman of collegewrestling," is given to the most outstanding wrestler of the year.The 2004 season was the first and only time a non-NCAA Division Iwrestler has received the Dan Hodge Trophy. Ray, who holds a career dual meet record of 158-96-5, servedthree years as the tournament director and coordinator of the NAIANational Wrestling Championships in Great Falls, MT from 2002-2004.He also served as the president of the NAIA National WrestlingCoaches Association from 2001 to 2003 and as chair for the NAIAnational team and individual rankings for six years. Ray served two years as an assistant coach at Simpson Collegeand two years as a graduate assistant under coach Dan Gable atIowa. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from SimpsonCollege in 1990 and a master's degree in exercise science in 1992from Iowa. In 2008, Ray received his administrative endorsement from theUniversity of Montana. He began his collegiate career as a wrestlerfor the University of Iowa and then wrestled one year for EdinboroUniversity. Ray was a Division I and Division II All-American in1986, finishing second at the Division II tournament and third atthe Division I tournament. He was 37-7 his final season atEdinboro. Ray had a successful Freestyle and Greco Roman career; twice hewas a Junior National Greco Champion and Freestyle runner-up. Hefinished fourth in the U.S. Greco National Championships in 1982and 1983, and at the age of 21 he finished fourth in the 1984 U.S.National Greco Olympic Trials. Ray is married and has four daughters: Kathryn, Alexiss,Michelle and Brooklyn; a son: Taylor and one granddaughter: Aleya.His wife, Kim, is employed with the Edwardsville SchoolDistrict. | 