How can Mike Ryan rebuild an Oklahoma wrestling power? 'It’s Perry. We can bring it back'

The most successful high school wrestling school in state history has found a new head coach.

Mike Ryan was hired to lead the Perry boys on Thursday, taking over a program that has won 20 dual state tournament titles and a record 43 state tournament championships.

Ryan most recently served as a middle school assistant principal in Duncan and has more than three decades of experience coaching in Oklahoma and Ohio.

“Perry, they made me an offer that I couldn’t turn down,” Ryan said.

A Tulsa Webster alum, Ryan was an All-American wrestler at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before finishing his grappling career at Central Oklahoma.

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He got into coaching right away and has been at several programs, from small schools like Chandler to one of the state’s biggest in Owasso, which is now being led by his son Kyle.

Mike will now take on the challenge of trying to get Perry back on top in Class 3A. The Maroons haven’t been their dominant selves in recent years, and their last victories at the state tournament and dual state were in 2019.

This past season under former Perry star and Oklahoma State wrestler Ladd Rupp, Perry finished in a tie for 17th place at the state tournament and lost to eventual champion Marlow 73-0 in the dual state quarterfinals.

“Anybody who takes this job I think ought to have the mindset of, ‘It’s Perry. We can bring it back,’” Ryan said. “With that being said, I’m also a realist. You got to have your bullets in the gun.

“We hope to start to attract those athletes from around that northeastern part of Oklahoma. That always helps. You have some kiddos that move to your school and whatnot. I have a philosophy in mind. I have a certain system that I learned from in Ohio.”

Ryan has history with the idea of turning around a program.

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When he arrived at Chandler from Ohio in 2012, Chandler was struggling.

But in Ryan’s three seasons at the school, the Class 3A Lions made it to dual state twice and placed third at the state tournament in his final year there.

“When I took over at Chandler, they had half a team,” Ryan said. “I don’t think they scored one single point at the state tournament the prior two years before I took over. We did have a good little group of kiddos coming through. My son (Cody) coming from Ohio helped.

“We just instilled a different mindset, a different culture and it took off. Those kids and that community, they bought in, and that’s what we’re going to expect to have to do here at Perry.”

Ryan said it might take some time before Perry returns to glory.

It’ll begin and end with the athletes.

“We have to have the individuals that will be committed, be willing to sacrifice, put in the time and effort because wrestling is a very demanding sport in a lot of different ways besides just going to practice,” Ryan said. “It requires you to almost take on a whole different lifestyle to be successful.

“But I know that the Perry community is very supportive. They’re also very eager to get back on top.”

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school wrestling: Perry hires Mike Ryan as head coach