Steve Dunlap began his college career as a walk-on wrestler at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. He started his career on the mat with hopes of getting into coaching. He wrestled all four years at UCO, and he lettered two of those years, including UCO's first national championship in 1979. During his time as a student at UCO, Dunlap officiated youth and junior high matches for four years. It did not take him long to get into coaching after his graduation in 1980. He spent the next nine years as the Edmond Junior High wrestling coach and he coached the Edmond ninth grade football team as well. He was named the junior high All-State Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1985 after he led Edmond to its first state championship since 1959. Edmond won the next two years and he coached 16 wrestlers to individual state championships at the junior high level. He moved up to the high school level in 1989 as an assistant coach and was promptly named the Oklahoma Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year after he guided Edmond to a state runner-up finish. He was named the head coach at Broken Arrow High School the following year. Over the next 10 years, Dunlap led Broken Arrow to three Dual State Tournament titles from 1998-2000, and four Individual State Tournament titles from 1998-2001. Broken Arrow finished ranked in the top six nationally each year from 1998-2000. They were named national Champions by USA Today in 1998 and were named co-national champions by Intermat in 1999. He received the Oklahoma Coach of the Year Award twice, and he was named the National Coach of the Year by Matside in 1998. Dunlap received the USA Oklahoma Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. During his years as a high school coach, he coached T.J. Jaworsky who went on to become a three-time national champion at North Carolina. He also coached NCAA All-Americans Joey Heckel, Donnie Heckel and Skyler Holman. Dunlap retired from coaching in 2001 and now serves as the Assistant Athletic Director for Union Public Schools.