An Orange County native and a 1981 graduate of Chapel Hill High School, Tripp Price was introduced to wrestling in 1979 by his younger brother Ken. Price began volunteering as an assistant at his alma mater in 1981, the beginning of a still-active 40-year coaching career at Chapel Hill. Price served as an assistant coach from 1981 to 1988 before taking over as head coach from 1988 to 1998. Price noted the absence of a highly competitive local holiday tournament, a void once filled by the Bull Durham Tournament at Jordan High School. This inspired Price to start the Tiger Holiday Classic, which has grown from 16 teams in 1992 to over 40 teams in 2019. The Tiger has been recognized as one of the toughest holiday wrestling tournaments in the southeast by Wrestling USA magazine and has attracted elite teams and wrestlers from across the country over its 27-year history. Starting in 1994, Price worked with assistant coach Mike Kendall to lay the foundation for the Cardiac Kids Wrestling Club, which developed into one of the state's premier wrestling clubs. In 1998, Price stepped back into the role of assistant coach, seasons (19 head, 18 assistant). He was recognized as the North Carolina assistant coach-of-the-year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2009 and conference coach-of-the-year in 2012 and 2015. In 2016, Price received the NCHSAA's Homer Thompson Memorial "Eight Who Make a Difference" Award. Throughout his career, Price has earned a reputation for always doing things the right way and emphasizing the values that wrestling teaches beyond winning. Price balanced his coaching duties with a career working at Durham Regional Hospital from 1981 to 2013. Currently, Price works full time at Chapel Hill as head wrestling coach, assistant EC Teacher, and assistant athletic director.