Russ Holland began wrestling in eighth grade when he did a split season with hockey and discovered he was not a fan of cold and ice, and decided to stay with wrestling at the urging of Don Meyers, who became a father figure and a great mentor to Russ as years went by. As a ninth grader, Russ made the varsity at 112# and went 16-1 on the season before Jimmy Anderson came down from 119# and beat him out for the 112# for the District Tournament. Jimmy went on to be Fridley’s first State Champion. The following year, a football injury never quite healed up, and Russ went 4-2 in an injury-shortened season. As a junior, Holland went 29-2-2 and made it all the way to the State finals before losing to Owatonna’s Hermann Sinn. That loss had extra sting as Fridley took second to Robbinsdale Cooper by a half point for the State Team Title. Russ went 30-0 as a Senior, earning a State Title at 133#. Russ was also an outstanding football player, playing both offense (running back) and defense(linebacker) in his Sophomore through Senior seasons.

After graduating from Fridley, Russ enrolled at Northern Michigan, where he was a four-year starter and a captain, earning All-American honors by placing 5th at the Division II Nationals at 158#. After graduating from Northern Michigan, Holland was hired to teach Physical Education and coach wrestling at Ishpeming, Michigan, where he had phenomenal success. In his two-year stint, his team went 29-1-1 and won the State Title both years, crowning 11 individual state champions in those two years. When the mines dried up in Ishpeming and the school closed, Russ, along with his wife and two children, moved back to Minnesota, where Russ took a job as a custodian at Minneapolis Roosevelt, working the 2:00 am to 9:00 am shift and serving as assistant wrestling coach under Jim Dotseth.

In 1976, Russ was hired to teach and coach wrestling at Park Center High School, where he remained until 2007. In addition to coaching wrestling, Holland also served as Head Golf Coach for those 31 years. Russ also gave back to the sport by serving as an official for 30+ years.

After “retirement”, Russ could not stay away from wrestling for long. Russ had just moved up to his cabin on Lake Shamineau, near Motley, and heard there was an opening for a Junior High wrestling position in Pierz. Even though it was a 44-mile journey from his lake home to Pierz, Russ totally enjoyed working in a wrestling program run by Mark Jensen and Skip Toops. Don Meyers will always be “the man”, but Mark Jensen’s coaching style was very similar to that of Coach Meyers. Technique and discipline are critical, and practices were always very organized and well-run. Russ also served as Girl’s Wrestling Coach at Pierz, coaching their first girl’s state qualifier.

Russ’s wife, Jill, a wrestling cheerleader for John Grygelko’s Robbinsdale wrestling team, started out as a teacher and a swimming coach before switching to retail for the past twenty years. Russ and Jill have two children. Daughter Erin lives in St. Cloud with her husband, John, and they have three children – Kaleb, Conner, and Chloe. Son Todd and his wife Jennifer live in Ft. Smith, Arkansas and also have three children – Rylie, Carson, and Cooper.