Bill Turner’s service to his sport of wrestling has a breadth that few can match.

A product of Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, he made his first contribution while an undergraduate at the University of Richmond. The Spiders did not have a wrestling program when he entered. Undeterred, Turner worked out where he could and competed as an unattached wrestler until his example inspired his school start a team, which he was naturally the first captain of.

Returning to the Beach, he taught and began a well-traveled coaching career.

After seven seasons at Granby High School and a brief stop at Lake Taylor High School, he began his career at Green Run High School. In 19 years at Green Run, he was an assistant coach and the head coach before returning to guide his successor at a coach emeritus.

Always interested in new challenges, Turner turned to coaching at the middle school level. He coached 21 city champions in 13 successful seasons at Lynnhaven Middle School and 11 city champions in six seasons at Salem Middle School.

Turner left his comfort zone completely at times. He led the Green Run girls soccer team to a Beach District championship and then 20 years later coached a winless Salem field hockey team to their first winning season in decades.

And Turner still had time for officiating.

From 2002 to present, Turner has worn the striped shirt at 19 district, 13 regional and nine state tournaments as well as many prestigious dual tournaments. He moves easily from folkstyle to freestyle, and is also the assigner for the Virginia AAU.

 If that isn't already enough, Turner was also active into his 50s as a jiu jitsu competitor. In the early 2000s, he was a national Senior 5 Brown Belt champion, a Pan Am Senior 4 Purple Belt champion, and a Pan Am Senior 5 Brown Belt runner-up.