Andy Seras named 2004 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach of the Year

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
04/24/2005


Andy Serasof Sandy Hook, Conn., has been named 2004 Greco-Roman Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. This is the second time Seras has won this award (2001, 2004).    Seras was an Olympic Coach for the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team, which competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The United States team was led by Olympic bronze-medalist Rulon Gardner, who claimed his second career Olympic medal.    Seras was head coach of the 2002 U.S. World Team, which competed in Moscow, Russia. The team placed a strong fifth in the team standings, led by individual gold-medalist Dremiel Byers.    Seras was the assistant coach for the 2001 U.S. World Team, and worked in that capacity during its training period. When the head coach was injured and could not attend the World Championships, Seras assumed additional responsibility on the coaching staff, serving as the head coach. The United States won the third-place trophy, led by three medalists: World champion Rulon Gardner and World silver medalists Brandon Paulson and Matt Lindland. It was the highest placement of a U.S. team ever at the Greco-Roman World Championships.    He was also the head coach of the 2001 U.S. Greco-Roman World Cup team, which competed in France and placed third in the standings, led by four individual medalists. Seras served as assistant coach of the 2001 U.S. team in Poland, as well as assistant coach of U.S. tour team that competed in Russia and Sweden.    Seras was selected as the 2001 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach of the Year. He has coached a number of U.S. teams on international tours. He is a club coach with the Atlas Wrestling Club and the Sunkist Kids. He has also served on the coaching staff of the Connecticut Junior National Team in 1999 and 2000.    He works as the head wrestling coach at Div. I Sacred Heart Univ., where he is building a strong program. He was an assistant coach at Sacred Heart for a number of years, and was previously an assistant coach at SUNY-Albany.     Seras was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team. He was a 1991 Pan American Games champion, and placed second in the 1995 Pan American Games. Seras claimed a gold medal at the 1994 World Cup. He competed on five U.S. World teams, placing sixth in the 1991 World Championships and ninth in the 1989 World Championships. Seras won five U.S. National titles and made the finals of the U.S. Greco-Roman National Championships for 12 straight years.    He competed for SUNY-Albany, where he was a 1985 NCAA Div. III national champion. He is originally from Niskayuna, N.Y., where he was fourth in the New York state high school meet. Seras was a two-time placewinner at the Junior World Championships.    USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners each day this week on TheMat.com.    PAST GRECO-ROMAN COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS  2004- Andy Seras, Sandy Hook, Conn., Sunkist Kids  2003 - Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army  2002 - Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army  2001 - Andy Seras, Sandy Hook, Conn., Sunkist Kids  2000 - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota Storm  1999 - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota Storm  1998 - Jay Antonelli, Quantico, Va., U.S. Marines  1997 - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota Storm  1996 - Rob Hermann, Pensacola, Fla., U.S. Navy  1995 - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota Storm  1994 - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota USA Wrestling  1993 - Tony Thomas, Fort Benning, Ga., U.S. Army  1992 - Rob Hermann, Pensacola, Fla., U.S. Navy