Kevin Black steps down as River Falls wrestling head coach

By Reagan Hoverman
Posted 3/30/23

After 10 years as the River Falls High School wrestling team’s head coach, Kevin Black has stepped down and will shift additional focus to the family relationships in his life, particularly …

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Kevin Black steps down as River Falls wrestling head coach

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After 10 years as the River Falls High School wrestling team’s head coach, Kevin Black has stepped down and will shift additional focus to the family relationships in his life, particularly with his wife, children and father.

Black didn’t make his decision lightly. He has dedicated decades of his life – both as a coach and student-athlete – to River Falls’ storied program. Wildcat wrestling is in his blood and every fiber of his being.

He didn’t decide to step down because his relationships were withering away – everything is fine. Instead, Black stepped away because long before he got into coaching or even had kids, he knew that he never wanted to be a high school head coach while his children were on the team.

Next year Black’s eldest child enters his freshman year at River Falls High School.

“The biggest thing with the decision is that there are a number of people in the community who can coach my kids, but I’m their only dad,” Black said. “I also wanted to focus on my relationship with my parents. Things have changed in the last 10 years and I just want to preserve those relationships. It’s a father-son decision with my children and also with my dad.”

Throughout the 2022-23 season, Black spoke with his most trusted mentors, as he sought wise counsel regarding his future with the program. Upon having those conversations, Black received confirmation that stepping down was ultimately the right decision for him and his family.

“I had confirmation in my heart that I needed to step down and let the program continue to grow,” Black said. “I’ll still be involved. I’ve got kids in the youth, middle and high school levels next year. I just want to be able to be there as a dad.”

Throughout his wrestling life, Black has seen many head coaches at the high school level make mistakes while their kids were on the team. Oftentimes the coach would show up when dad was needed and vice versa.

In watching and learning from those unintentional mistakes, Black recognized that he would likely fall victim to some of those mistakes if he remained the headman of the River Falls wrestling program.

“I had often seen coaches unintentionally make those decisions,” Black said. “I think I have good self-awareness, but watching all of those coaches I respect go through those struggles, it would be foolish for me to think I wouldn’t encounter those.”

Black’s journey with the River Falls wrestling program began in the mid-1990s when he was a student-athlete. During that time, he constructed what one could argue was the most dominant high school wrestling career in United States history up until that point.

Between his freshman year in 1994 and when he graduated in May of 1998, Black amassed a perfect 160-0 record as a wrestler. He won four individual state championships, competed in three team championships – which included two runner-up finishes in ’96 and ’97 – and held the national record for consecutive wins.

After taking over as head coach more than a decade after he graduated from River Falls, Black led the wrestling program from the 2012-13 campaign through the 2022-23 season.

During those 10 years as headman, Black led the Wildcats to a pair of Big Rivers Conference championships, both of which came in the last four years he coached. They were the Wildcats’ first league titles since the 2004-05 season.

While some coaches may have become intoxicated with winning and success, Black never lost sight of what is truly important – his family. He spoke about being at peace with walking away.

“Of course, I care about our program immensely,” Black said. “I put a lot of my heart and life into River Falls wrestling since I was a little kid. But I think my family is bigger and more important to me than our program.”

As Black walks away, the River Falls wrestling program is as healthy as it has been since the late 1990s. The numbers at the youth, intermediate and high school levels are all strong and the Wildcats are poised for varsity success for at least the next half-decade.

Throughout the last 10 years, Black has made a concerted effort to get the assistant coaches on his staff ready to run a high school wrestling program for when he inevitably would step away.

That day has come, and nobody on the staff is more prepared to run a program than Cam Loomis, who has been an assistant for the last six years. Loomis grew up in River Falls and wrestled under coach Black since he was a kid.

Loomis’ mother also had a coaching trait, as she led the gymnastics team to multiple state championships and is a hall of fame coach. Black spoke about the state of the program and how capable Loomis is of running the program.

“There is enough in the program at all levels to be successful for a number of years,” Black said. “Cam grew up here and has that River Falls history connection. His mom was a hall of fame coach and we’ve had several conversations about coaching. If it does become him, there’s a good chance that he is going to handle it really well.”

With a successor seemingly selected and the timing perfect to end his time as head coach, Black has officially stepped away. His impact – both as a student-athlete and coach – cannot be understated. He leaves the program better than he found it and is one of the most important figures in River Falls wrestling history.

River Falls, Wrestling, Kevin Black, WIAA, Wildcats