Gary Embrey began his wrestling odyssey while at Edison High School in Fairfax County. After modest success as a 145-lb District Champion and State semi-finalist, he wrestled for a year at Virginia Tech while pursuing his Bachelor's degree. He went on to acquire a Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Richmond before returning to his high school alma mater to accept a position as a mathematics teacher and assistant wrestling coach in 1977. Gary spent 10 of his 15 years at Edison as the Head Wrestling Coach, building a successful program that achieved back-to-back Gunston District Team Championships in 1989 and 1990. During this span, he also contributed to an undefeated freshman football season as defensive coordinator and coached the JV girls softball team to six district titles. In 1992, Gary accepted an offer to head West Springfield's wrestling program. In his 16-year tenure there, he built upon an already rich wrestling tradition and thrived in one of the most competitive districts in Virginia. His Spartans won numerous seasonal tournament titles, never had a losing season, and captured a Northern Region Championship in 2005. During the late 1990's and early 2000's, Gary also became actively involved in the "Beltway Bandits" youth wrestling program and ultimately took over coaching the program for several years until his youngest son entered high school. During his career, Gary Embrey coached one State Champion, 10 Regional Champions, and 23 District Champions. Over the years, his teams have won more than 300 dual contests. He served as Vice President of the Northern Virginia Wrestling Coaches Association for over a decade, but perhaps his greatest accomplishment can be seen in his former wrestlers that followed him into coaching. Five of them became head coaches and more than a dozen others have assisted at various high school wrestling programs. Since his retirement from teaching in 2008, Gary has continued to help various wrestling programs, assisting at Garfield, Hylton, and currently, South County High School. Gary lives in Springfield, Virginia with his wife, Ellen. They have three sons, Austin, Brandon, and Colin, all of whom wrestled on their father's teams.