Al Fontes “aka, Coach Al” has over 40 years of service in the sport of wrestling. He served as the California State Editor of the California Wrestler Newsletter (TCW) from 1995 to 2020 and has also been a contributing editor and writer for several state and national wrestling publications and websites, which include Wrestling USA, Amateur Wrestling News, WIN Magazine, InterMat, Sports Stars Magazine (Northern California), CIF State Wrestling Program, Idaho HOF Committee, and Idaho Sports.

His honors include the Irv Oliner Award in 2001 for extensive contribution to the promotion of wrestling in California. The same year, he was awarded Wrestling USA Magazine’s Editor of the Year along with Person of the Year. Then in 2016, Al was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall-of-Fame for Lifetime Service along with being the recipient of Amateur Wrestling News’ Bob Dellinger Award in 2018, presented to the nation’s top wrestling writer since 1960.

Al also served on the board of the California Wrestling Hall-of-Fame Committee from 2010 to 2020, respectively. Further, for 20 years, he served as an Assistant Director for the Monterey Coaches Clinic of Champions led by Bill Grant, a longtime coach, mentor, promoter, and recipient of the California Hall-of-Fame and National HOF Lifetime Service Award (CA Chapter).

Al has been coaching wrestling at the kids and prep levels since 1981 (his freshman year in high school). This includes his alma mater Livermore H.S., Antioch H.S., Liberty H.S., and Rocky Mountain H.S. in Meridian, Idaho. Additionally, he has coached at the middle school level in both California and Idaho, as well as club programs. Moreover, Al was the California Team Leader at the NHSCA Senior High School Nationals in 2001, ‘02, and ‘06, where the Golden State won the National Team Title in 2001 and was runner-up in ’02 and ’06, respectively.

On the mat, Al wrestled for Junction Middle School in the late 1970s, Livermore High School, Chabot College, and the Tri-Valley Wrestling Club in the East Bay Area. He won an East Bay Championship his senior year at Livermore and was a finalist at the Golden Gate Conference as well as a medalist at the Northern California Regional while competing for Chabot College. Al graduated from Chabot College in addition to the University of San Francisco (USF) with college honors and worked for 30 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a research and development complex for the Department of Energy.

Retiring in 2020 from LLNL, Al and his family moved to Eagle, Idaho. Wasting no time, Al immediately integrated his passion for wrestling and began extensively writing and promoting all levels of the Gem State. For starters, he launched the Idaho Elite Report (aka, TIER 1) in 2021 and shortly thereafter joined the staff at Idaho Sports. Additionally, he is also promoting wrestling via podcasts in Idaho and other outlets across the country. His short-term goal is to promote Idaho wrestling at the state level, but ultimately bring the Gem State into the national conversation.

For his hard work and dedication to wrestling in the state of Idaho and abroad, Al received the Lifetime Service Award to Wrestling from the Idaho Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024.