Mark Gerhard has been a constant within the sport of wrestling not just in Southwest Ohio, but across the entire state.

After attending Carroll High School, he wrestled at Wright State from 1973-77, where he was the recipient of the Raider Award and was an NCAA Division II qualifier.

He then moved into a coaching role, starting at his alma mater as a freshman coach from 1977-85.

In 1986, he founded the Miami Valley Kids Wrestling Association, which started with seven teams and has since grown to 70 teams with over 3,000 wrestlers.

He was also a varsity head coach at Carroll High School from 2006-07, and a varsity assistant coach from 1996-2005 and from 2008-present.

He also helped organize the Ohio National team, and when based in the Dayton area founded the Dayton Carroll Freestyle and Greco-Roman teams. He also founded the USA Cadet National Dual team, and has been a tournament organizer for several events throughout the state, including still being the organizer for the Carroll Greco-Roman/Freestyle Tournament.