Flathead's Anderson named assistant wrestling COY

An assistant coach can make the difference from an average team to a state champion. Just ask the Flathead High School wrestling team - the 2006 state champions.

Those grapplers had Jeff Anderson.

Anderson assisted head coach Jeff Thompson to two state championships in three years and has been selected by Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine as the 2006 Assistant Coach-of-the-Year. The award was announced in the magazine's May 30 edition and he was surprised at an all-school assembly Wednesday with the presentation.

"I had no idea," Anderson said. "I knew I was nominated and I had an idea that there could be a chance because I do a lot of work not only locally, but within the state and on a national level too. I've been involved with U.S. Amatuer Wrestling for 20 years."

Anderson was the head coach at Flathead from 1993-2001 before turning over the reins to Thompson, who - along with Daniel Ham and Tom Vanek - nominated him for the award.

"I really enjoyed the (head) position, but I realized my best place in dealing with the athletes was as an assistant," Anderson said.

Anderson won the Montana Assistant Coach of the Year Award a couple of years ago. This is the first time he has won the national Assistant Coach of the Year.

"I was completely clueless - to the point where I am a little overwhelmed," Anderson said. "This is a once in a lifetime event."

Anderson coached his now head coach, Thompson, at Great Falls High School from 1988-91. Thompson was a three-time state champion.

"It is bittersweet that I won this while being involved with (Thompson)," Anderson said. "We have just an incredible working relationship. We are pretty close … To the point of being second brothers."

Thompson told the magazine that Anderson is "a hands-on coach."

Anderson was a state champion for FHS in 1982 and a high school All-American. He also wrestled for the University of Montana and Northwest Wyoming. He was a four-time Olympic Trials qualifier. He won the Regional Olympic Trials in both freestyle and Roman Greco in 1984, when he won gold in Greco and silver in freestyle at the Junior Pan American Games. He was an assistant coach at Great Falls High School and a five-time International Team head coach. He has also been the head coach for Team Montana 15 times for Junior Nationals and is president of U.S.A. Wrestling of Montana.

"What they did was take a look as not only me as an athlete, but as a coach and not only a coach at the local level, but also being involved with the national organization," Anderson said. "I've been doing clinics and have been very busy. My summers are taken up with wrestling.

But what makes Anderson so successful is his personal relationships with his wrestlers.

"His most outstanding quality is his ability to relate to young wrestlers at their level while at the same time commanding their respect," Daniel Ham, father of Montana's two-time 105-pound second-place finisher Brian Ham, told the magazine.

Wresting U.S.A Magazine is owned and operated by Lanny Bryant in Missoula with writers and state editors across the country. Bryant was an All-American wrestler at Montana State and Fresno State. He was a longtime wrestling coach in Wyoming before becoming the coach at Montana State University and Missoula Hellgate High School.

"I am familiar with the Bryant family," Anderson said. "Lanny's son, Cody, was two years younger than me and Lanny was coaching Hellgate when I was an athlete."