Coach-Chris grew-up in the Halls Community in North Knoxville. He was a big kid and did not play sports growing up. In middle school, he was in the band and played the Drums. He heard that they had started a wrestling team at Halls High School and wanted to try it when he got there. In high school, he went out for the team and was the varsity heavyweight his freshmen year. Not, because he was good, because he was the only one in the weight class. He wrestled in the first match he ever saw. He got pinned in a “figure-4” to the head. He kept working and won 3 matches that year. He wanted to be good and loved practice. After the season, he went out for spring football practice and did great. “It was like wrestling practice, but it is in the mud and we have pads”. Later that spring they started a “Freestyle Wrestling” club. His Freestyle coach was a “Crazy Iranian” that wrestled at UT. He was a “workout maniac” and the practices were very tough. This was the best thing for a clumsy and non-athletic kid. He continued to work hard in wrestling, weight training and running. As a sophomore, he started both ways on the varsity football team and was a Region Champion in wrestling. He continued to train, played football, worked hard and won the State Heavyweight Title as a junior. He was the first “State Champion Wrestler” from Knoxville. As a senior continued to train, played football and won the State again. Then wrestled at Tennessee under NWHOF member Coach Gray Simons and was a 4-year letterman. He placed 3rd in the SEC Tournament one year. When he graduated, he got a teaching job at Halls High School and coached football and wrestling. Knox Co Schools did not recognize wrestling as a middle school sport. So, he did some clinics and worked with one of the middle school P.E. teachers to implement wrestling as a unit in P.E. He finally came to realize that to have a middle school team, he will have to invent it. In the spring of 1990, he worked with the YMCA and started the first middle school team in Knoxville. They wrestled the teams in Morristown and went to Chattanooga for a couple of tournaments. The next year they started their youth program. They became part of the “Future Champions” group and hosted the First Youth State Wrestling Tournament at Halls High School. Chris’ son John started wrestling at age 5. John became a TSSAA State Heavyweight Champion in 2006, his senior year and Coach Vandergriff decided to retire from coaching. Chris had two other State Champions in his coaching career, Shannon Sayne (the current head coach at Halls HS) and Cody Humphrey (the current head coach at Halls Middle School). The best team that Coach Vandergriff had was in 1990. They finished 2nd in the State Large School Duals. When Coach Vandergriff was in high school there were only two high schools in Knoxville that had wrestling teams (Halls & Carter). He has worked hard throughout his career to build the Knoxville area. He is still involved and “gives back” through the “Tennessee Wrestling Coaches List” that he started