Steve Chapman has been working with Chelsea’s wrestling team for the past five years and has had a clear impact on student athletes and the wrestling program. For his first three years he worked as a volunteer, then an assistant coach, and last season he took over as the head coach.

Even as a coach who has been at Chelsea for over five years, not many people in the Chelsea community know much about him.

“What got me into coaching—well that is a great question,” said Chapman. “I guess it was my desire to give back to the sport that gave so much to me.”

He has been a coach for the past seventeen years and has coached football, baseball and wrestling. He was also the head wrestling coach at Jackson High School, where he spent eight years with the wrestling program.

“What I respect most about him is his commitment to the team and his encouraging personality to keep the team going,” said Drew Maguire.

Coach Chapman is always working to better the team and himself, not only as a coach, but as a person, too.

“As a coach I feel as though I am constantly trying to improve, this season is a fresh start and one that means I need to improve with the boys,” he said.

Chapman is constantly striving to help his wrestling team learn and grow each week, and working to improve the wrestling team even after graduating many talented starters last year, as well as helping a new group of guys step up into leader positions on the team.

Chapman is well respected by many of Chelsea’s young wrestlers and is well liked by many because he is hardworking and has a noticeable dedication to the sport. “I respect his hard work and dedication to his wrestlers, his honesty with them, and is always striving to get the best from them,” said wrestler Daniel Golding. Daniel is not the only one to commend Coach Chapman for his hard work, as many of Chapman’s other wrestlers have agreed that he is both hardworking and dedicated.

Steve Chapman is also a teacher at Jackson and is working hard academically there as well. “I have always thought that wrestling needed more people advocating for it and teachers who could teach the sport. I have always wanted to work with kids and teaching and coaching seemed to go well together,” he said.

He likes watching his wrestling team improve physically, and when they are working hard to reach their goals.

“I love coaching, it is great to work with the hard working young men on the team and watch as they improve. It is a special job that I feel very fortunate to get the opportunity to do,” Chapman said.

He gives up his time to do good things for the community and to help young men enjoy and improve with wrestling.

“I respect how he is always pushing us to be better people and wrestlers,” said a freshman wrestler.

Many students feel similarly.

“I admire Coach Chapman’s commitment and love for the sport of wrestling… He puts in time and effort into giving us the best experience,” said Daniel Garza.