Shon Lewis coaching at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Larry Slater photo

Shon Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) has been named 2011 Greco-Roman Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the fourth time in his career that Lewis has won this prestigious honor (2002, 2003, 2006, 2011).

Lewis works as the head coach of the U.S. Army team, stationed in Fort Carson, Colo. He is responsible for training the athletes in the Army's World Class Athlete Program.

He coached the U.S. Army team to the Div. I U.S. Open title in April, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as the Dec. 2011 U.S. Open held in Arlington, Texas. He is the personal coach for three athletes who competed for the 2011 U.S. World Team: Spenser Mango (55 kg), Justin Lester (66 kg) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg). Lester placed fifth at the World Championships.

He was a member of 2011 World Team coaching staff, which placed 19th at the World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. He also served as the 2011 Pan American Games coach, which competed in Guadalajara, Mexico, had three medalists and placed second behind Cuba in the team stands. He also served as a coach for U.S. tour teams to Cuba and Hungary in 2011.

The Army was also the champion at the 2011 Armed Forces Championships and has won nine of the last 12 Armed Forces team titles.

Lewis was an Olympic Coach for the U.S. 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. 

Lewis served as head coach of the 2003 U.S. Greco-Roman World team that competed in Cretiel, France. The U.S. team placed 13th in the standings, led by three athletes in the top 10 of their divisions. 

He was the assistant coach of the 2002 U.S. Greco-Roman World Team, which placed fifth in the World Championships held in Moscow, Russia. The team was led by World Champion Dremiel Byers. 

He was a member of the coaching staff at the 2008 Olympic Games. Lewis was a member of the coaching staff for a number of other U.S. World Teams, including the 2007 U.S. World team which won the team title and the 2006 U.S. World Team which placed third in the standings.

He coached the 2006 U.S. Pan American Championships team, which competed in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and placed second in the team standings. The U.S. team won a medal in all seven weight classes.

He has coached many U.S. National Team members and All-Americans during his tenure in all three Olympic wrestling styles. He is the club coach for Dremiel Byers, who was a World champion in 2002, one of only five Americans to win a Greco-Roman World title. 

Lewis has also served as a coach for the U.S. World Military team seven times, which competes at the CISM World Military Championships. Lewis has coached numerous Military World medalists during those trips.

As an athlete, Lewis competed on the 1993 and 1999 U.S. World Championships teams. He also qualified for the 1998 U.S. World Team, but was unable to participate in the World Championships that year. He was a four-time U.S. Nationals Greco-Roman champion (1993-94, 1996, 1998), and was a medalist in three U.S. Olympic Team Trials (1992, 1996, 2000). Lewis was a member of the U.S. Army team as an athlete, winning six Armed Forces Greco-Roman titles and competing in the World Military Championships. He was the 1993 U.S. Army Athlete of the Year, an award including all sports in the Army's program. 

Prior to joining the Army, he attended the Univ. of Oregon, as well as competing for Placer High School in Auburn, Calif.

PAST GRECO-ROMAN COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2011 – Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army
2010 – Dan Hicks, Camp LeJeune, N.C., U.S. Marine Corps
2009 – Ivan Ivanov, Boise, Idaho, Suples WC and USOEC
2008 - Brandon Paulson, Anoka, Minn., Minnesota Storm
2007 - Jay Antonelli, Chesapeake, Va., U.S Marines
2006 - Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Army
2005 - Shawn Sheldon, West Palm Beach, Fla., New York AC
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