Redwood's Dave Watts to receive California Wrestling Hall of Fame lifetime service award
Dave Watts' dedication and love for wrestling is obvious.
The Redwood High School head wrestling coach first stepped on the mat growing up in Caruthers, where he starred for then-coach Paul Sanchez and gravitated toward the sport.
Once engaged, he never left wrestling and orchestrated a coaching career that has rolled through four decades. He began his coaching career in 1982 while in high school coaching youth wrestlers.
In 1986, he began his high school coaching career at Poway and has been a mainstay ever since.
That type of dedication will be recognized later this summer. Watts was selected as one of 13 recipients for this year's Lifetime Service Award by the California Wrestling Hall of Fame. The 23rd annual banquet will be held on June 1 in Fresno.
"When you get recognized by your peers, that's a good thing," Watts said. "They see that I was there. I was there for the kids and we were successful."
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A distinguished coaching career
There is no offseason for Watts.
He has also served as head coach or assistant at five other high school programs:
Las Plumas (co-head coach, 1988-90)
Washington Union (assistant, 1991-92)
Caruthers (head coach, 1992-94)
El Diamante (head coach, 2005-09)
Redwood (head coach, 2010-present)
When he's not coaching his high school teams, he has volunteered as a coach for USA Wrestling, where he's led teams such as the California Western Regional (1998-2004), California National Team (2005-2021), California Junior Duals (2006-2017) and California National Team Greco (2015-2021) coach.
And when those roles have been completed, Watts runs his club teams, something he has done annually since 1992. He currently also directs the Ranger Wrestling Club.
This season, Watts piloted the Rangers to back-to-back East Yosemite League and Central Section Division II championships.
Watts is an avid ambassador for wrestling, too. He was the director of the Kings-Tulare Wrestling Association for 16 years (2006-2021) and served as a board member for California USA Wrestling. He has also been a representative for the both East and West Yosemite leagues and has been a part of the Central Section's wrestling advisory committee.
During his coaching run, Watts' high school teams have won more than 150 dual matches, seven league titles and two Central Section Division II championships with nearly 40 state qualifiers. Seven of his wrestlers have placed at the state tournament.
"It's fun," Watts said. "I like being around the sport. I like being around the kids, and the coaches and the parents. It's always fun."
It also helps that Watts has a supporting family at home, especially his wife, Kelle. Watts' sons, Aaron, David and Randall, also wrestled for Dad in high school.
Earlier in Watts' coaching career, Kelle joined her husband for regional and national tournaments, working as a pairing official in charge of setting up tournament brackets. The Watts have been married for 36 years and will celebrate their 37th anniversary in July.
What's it like to have a wife who is all-in?
"It's great," Watts said. "I never have to, she knows how much I love wrestling and how much time I put into it, and we talked a long time ago, 'Look, this is what I'm going to do. You're either going to be a part of it or you're not going to be a part of it.' She wanted to be a part of it. She was a college athlete also, and so, she knows what it takes to be next level. She was OK with it."
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Paying it forward
It was Sanchez who introduced Watts to wrestling.
Originally, Watts was hesitant to join the wrestling team in Caruthers but Sanchez kept encouraging him and Watts went on to become a three-time Central Section place winner and state qualifier.
That kind of support fueled Watts and Sanchez inspired him to do the same — use wrestling as an avenue to teach life lessons.
The Doc Buchanan Invitational's top award, the Paul Sanchez Outstanding Wrestler Award, is named after the late Sanchez.
"Paul Sanchez, No. 1, he was a great guy," Watts said. "Great family man. A hard worker."
Watts has taken the skills and knowledge he learned from his coaches — Sanchez and Dennis Bardsley — and paid it forward to his group of wrestlers.
"I just loved it," Watts said. "Once I started being around these guys, I was successful. I didn't want to quit."
Watts' impact has been felt immensely.
Redwood has flourished under Watts' leadership.
In 2014, the Rangers ended Lemoore's 19-year West Yosemite League championship run to win the program's first conference title in 21 seasons.
That success has continued.
Redwood has won back-to-back East Yosemite League crowns and repeated as Central Section Division II champions this past season.
"It's all the hard work that we've put in," Watts said. "It's not just me. It's all the coaches. They all work year-round. None of them shy away from being year-round."
Watts and his staff helped produce four individual EYL champions during the 2023-24 campaign:
Isaak Mendoza, 132 pounds
Brody Preisendorf, 150 pounds
Enrique Segura, 190 pounds
Kai Preisendorf, 215 pounds
Mendoza has known Watts for over a decade. The Redwood senior, a three-time individual league champion, started wrestling under Watts' Ranger club youth team when he was 5 years old.
"He's taught me so much, so much," Mendoza said. "The knowledge he's given me is out of this world. I couldn't thank him enough for what he's done."
Four Rangers also qualified for the state wrestling tournament in February:
Kobe Negrete, 120 pounds
Gunner Benedict, 138 pounds
Adrian De Leon, 157 pounds
Kai Preisendorf, 215 pounds
Preisendorf culminated his Redwood career as a two-time state qualifier.
Like Mendoza, Preisendorf also learned under Watts at a young age.
"It's great," Preisendorf said. "I grew up in his kid program and stuff, so it's been a cool experience. When I was little, I saw all the high school practices, the high schoolers wrestling and stuff and I thought, 'Man, I can't wait to be there one day.' Now, I'm here, to wrestle for him, it's wonderful."
Watts' teams have excelled off the mat, too. Four of his squads have won the Central Section's academic championship, which is awarded to the team in the section with the highest grade point average.
What drives the program to success?
"He definitely has the experience for one," Preisendorf said. "He also has a strong determination to get us where we're going. Even though throughout the day, we don't get first or whatever, as long as you truly wrestle to your best ability, you will get first or better eventually."
That's the backbone of Redwood wrestling.
"If you work hard, you're going to get somewhere," Watts said. "If you're always trying to get better, you're going to be successful. You're never going to be a failure if you're trying hard."
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Dave Watts to receive wrestling hall of fame lifetime service award
