Randy Dammon, son of John and Dolores Dammon, is the fourth of five children. Born in Alma, Wisconsin, he grew up in Genoa, Wisconsin along the Mississippi River where he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He got hooked on wrestling in fifth grade when his oldest brother Ron joined the new team at Aquinas High School. A few years later his brother Dave wrestled for De Soto High School. Starting in 1968, Randy wrestled for two years at Aquinas under assistant coach Jack Nockels and head coach Dave English, and then for two years at De Soto under coach Wayne Johnson. He graduated from De Soto in 1972, married Cheryl Johnson, and went to work at Chrysler Corporation in Belvidere, Illinois. In 1974 they moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin and Randy went on to earn his B.S. degree from UW-La Crosse. In 1978 Randy was hired by Belmont High School to teach Science, serve as an assistant football coach and head wrestling coach. In three years at Belmont, Dammon's wrestling team won one conference championship and had 15 individual conference champions. The Braves achieved a 31-17 dual meet record, crowned four regional champions, two sectional champions and had three state qualifiers including 4th and 2nd place finishers. Randy moved to La Crosse Aquinas High School in 1981, teaching science and serving as head wrestling coach for 11 years. Assistant Coaches Tony Lyga and Scott Zurfluh were instrumental in getting the program off to a good start. A very influential man in Dammon's coaching career at Aquinas was his former head coach Dave English. He provided lots of advice and tutored wrestlers in need. Randy coached all four of English's sons. Under Dammon's leadership the Blugolds won six of seven conference titles before the CWCC wrestling conference ended in 1989. They won nine regional titles, seven state championships and placed second three times. In this 11-year run the Blugolds had 57 regional champions, 109 state qualifiers, 89 state place winners and 31 WISAA State Champions. Randy had the great honor of coaching three four-time state champions: Mike Nockels (Wisconsin's first) 84-87; Jeff Bertram 87-90 and Jon Low 88-91. Mike English wrestled for Aquinas during Dammon's first two years and then became Randy's assistant coach and an essential part of the team's success. Randy was a four-time District 8 coach of the year. In 1987 he was chosen as a coach for the Minnesota-Wisconsin all-star classic wrestling meet. During the 88-89 season, three of Dammon's wrestlers, Todd English, Lance Schmidt and Kevin Colburn, won Bi-State titles, WISAA titles and earned spots on the Minnesota-Wisconsin all-star classic team. Randy's daughter Michelle was the Aquinas statistician for four years and she wrote a wrestling column for the Crossface Magazine. Randy retired from coaching in 1992. In 1993 he took a job at West Salem High School where he served as athletic director for three years and science teacher until he retired in 2016. In 1995 Randy's kindergarten son Trevor joined the La Crosse Area Wrestlers and Randy joined the LAW coaching staff as an assistant under Coach Jon Burns. He continued coaching until 2005 when Trevor entered High School. For the next four years Randy enjoyed being just a wrestling fan, watching Trevor compete for Aquinas, including three trips to the WIAA state meet and a fourth (08) and third (09) place finish. In 2009 Randy was asked if he would coach the West Salem/Bangor co-op for one season while coach Rick Dobbs went on active duty in the National Guard. When Dobbs decided not to resume coaching, Dammon continued on as head coach for five more seasons. Beginning in 2012, the WB's won three consecutive coulee conference titles. In 2014 they won a regional title for only the second time in the co-op's 20-year history. During Randy's tenure as head coach, the WB's had 10 state qualifiers, five place winners and Dammon's first WIAA state champion, freshman Devin Bahr. Assistant coaches Pete Arentz, Jon Chisholm, Josh Brewer, David Neuman and Steve Kurschner were crucial in helping to revive the WB program. Randy retired from coaching at the end of the 2014-15 season, turning the WB program over to three great young coaches: Josh Brewer, David Neuman and Steve Kurschner. Randy and Cheryl raised four children: Michelle, a writer living in California; Krista, a librarian in Illinois; Carrie, a manager at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota; and Trevor, a computer coder in Minneapolis. The Dammon's have six grandchildren. "ƒ Randy Dammon 1972 Graduate of De Soto High School, De Soto, WI 1978 Graduate of the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse 1978-2016 Teacher Belmont, Aquinas and West Salem High Schools 1978-1981 Head Wrestling Coach, Belmont High School 1981-1992 Head Wrestling Coach, Aquinas High School 1993-1997 Athletic Director West Salem High School 2009-2015 Head Wrestling Coach, West Salem/Bangor Co-op Dual meet Record, 217-121-2 10 Conference Team Championships 67 Individual Conference Champions 10 Regional Team Championships 71 Individual Regional Champions 122 Individual State Qualifiers 96 Individual State place winners 32 Individual State Champions 7 WISAA Team State Championships District 8 Coach of the year 1984, 85, 86, 87 WWCA District 8 Representative 1988-1990 1987 Wisconsin-Minnesota All-Star Classic Coach