Jack Childs - Head Wrestling Coach - Wrestling Coaches

Jack Childs

Title:
Head Wrestling Coach
Email:
childsjp@drexel.edu
Phone:
x-1592

Jack Childs is entering his 35th and final season as the head coach of the Drexel wrestling program in 2010-11. At Drexel, Childs has post an impressive record of 414-254-9, and last season he recorded his landmark 500th career collegiate coaching victory when he led the Dragons over George Mason. Childs is the active Div. I leader in coaching victories with 414 and he has amassed 505 wins at all levels of NCAA competition during his time at Stevens Tech and Drexel. In November of 2010 Childs announced that the 2010-11 season will be his last. With hopes of guiding a number of Dragon wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament which will be held in Philadelphia in 2011, Childs embarks on the final steps of an historic career at Drexel.

While on the bench in University City, Childs has posted 22 seasons with at least 10 wins. Childs recorded his 300th career victory on Jan. 17, 2002 against Rider University. On April 22, 2006, Childs was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. as a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. His contributions to the sport were also recognized on Mar. 1, 2003 when he was inducted into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Since joining the Colonial Athletic Association six years ago, the team has continued its success. Last season, Childs guided the Dragons to an 8-2 record in conference matches and sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships including Ryan Hluschak who finished eighth at 157 pounds. In the 2005-06 season, Childs set a school record by winning 20 dual matches en route to a 20-9 record, including a fifth-place finish at the prestigious Virginia Duals. Six Drexel wrestlers placed in the top three at the CAA Championships and four qualified for Nationals. Childs led the Dragons to 16 wins during the 2001-02 and 2004-05 seasons and was named the CAA's Co-Coach of the Year in 2002. Childs continues to recruit and develop some of the premier wrestling talent in the Northeast. The Dragons sent a school-record six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in 2002 and the team finished 45th overall. Three seasons ago, the team had its first All-American and sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament.

Childs has won four East Coast Wrestling Association Coach of the Year awards: in 1980, 1985, 1994 and 1999. He guided the team to an ECWA team championship in 1985. In the 1976-77 season, his first at Drexel, Childs finished second to Iowa's legendary coach Dan Gable in the Amateur Wrestling News Rookie Coach of the Year balloting. He was also president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association from 1991 to 1993 and served on the NWCA Executive Board for four years.

A 1967 graduate of East Stroudsburg University, Childs won varsity letters while competing in wrestling, football and track. He earned a master's degree from Cortland State University in 1970. Prior to coaching at Drexel, he guided Stevens Trade School to a six-year record of 89-17. He is also member of the Northeastern Region Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the East Stroudsburg Athletic Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Athens (Pa.) Area High School Hall of Fame. Even after 38 years coaching grapplers, Childs continues to be an innovator for Drexel University and the sport of wrestling. He was instrumental in organizing the merger of the ECWA and the Colonial Athletic Association in conjunction with Drexel's move to the CAA five years ago.

Childs lives in Wayne, Pa. with his wife Anne. The couple has three children, Jesse and Michael, who graduated from Drexel and wrestled for their father, and Elizabeth, a former captain of the women's tennis team at Drexel.