The U.S. Olympic Committee has approved USA Wrestling’s nominations of Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn., James Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz. and Shon Lewis of Colorado Springs, Colo. as volunteer Olympic Coaches for Greco-Roman at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

They will serve alongside National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Assistant National Greco-Roman Momir Petkovic, also of Colorado Springs, Colo., as Olympic coaches for the Greco-Roman team.

These Olympic Team staff selections are pending final approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer.

“We have the right staff for the job. As a unit, we worked with each other for many, many years. We have the same goals and training methods. We have been gelling real well together as a team,” said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser.

“Shon Lewis has been a World Team Coach many times and an Olympic coach. He has three of his Army guys on the team, and works closely with them. He is essential for our team success. James Johnson has put in a great deal of time and effort during the last quadrennium. He knows the athletes very well and is a great addition to the team. Dan Chandler has been an Olympic coach many times. He has a vast amount of experience. He is considered by many the Dan Gable of Greco-Roman wrestling. He is also personal coach for Chas Betts,” said Fraser.

Chandler and Lewis have served as Olympic Coaches at previous Olympic Games. Chandler was a three-time Olympian as a Greco-Roman athlete. All three of the volunteer coaches have served a number of times as U.S. World Team coaches. In addition, all three of these coaches were U.S. World Team members as athletes.

BIOGRAPHY: Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn.

Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn, a coach of the past U.S. Olympic Teams and a three-time Olympian as an athlete, has been named as an Olympic coach in Greco-Roman wrestling for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Chandler was the head coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team in Sydney, Australia, which finished with three medals and a team third-place finish. It was considered by many the best performance by a U.S. Greco-Roman team in Olympic history. The U.S. medalists were Rulon Gardner (gold), Matt Lindland (silver) and Garrett Lowney (bronze).

Chandler also served as the assistant coach for the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, which featured silver medalist Dennis Koslowski and bronze medalist Rodney Smith. He served on the coaching staff at the 1988, 1996, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.

He is the club coach for 2012 U.S. Olympian Chas Betts of the Minnesota Storm (84 kg).

Chandler was the head coach of the 1995, 1997 and 1999 U.S. Greco-Roman World teams. The 1995 team placed in a tie for fourth in the team standings in Prague, Czech Republic. The team featured two medalists, champion Dennis Hall and runner-up Matt Ghaffari. The 1997 U.S. World team placed 12th in the World Championships. The 1999 U.S. World team placed 14th in the final standings, with three wrestlers placing in the top 10 of their weight division. 

He was also a U.S. World Team Coach in 2009 in Herning, Denmark and in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Chandler has been named the USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach of the Year five times, the most by any coach (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000). 

He was the coach of the 2003 Pan American Games team which competed in the Dominican Republic. Chandler served as head coach of the 1994 Pan American Championships team, which won the team title. He also coached the 1990 and 1993 World Cup teams. 

Chandler works as the state coach for Minnesota USA Wrestling, coaching athletes in the state on all age levels. He also coaches the Minnesota Storm club, which features many of the best Greco-Roman athletes in the nation. The Minnesota Storm is among the most successful club teams on the national level, earning team honors on the Senior and age-group levels. He also coached three years on the college level at St. Thomas Univ., and as an assistant at the Univ. of Minnesota.

As an athlete, he was a member of three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, 1980, 1984). Chandler competed in six World Championships, placing as high as fifth in the 1979 World Championships. He won medals in three Pan American Games, including golds in 1975 and 1979. Chandler competed for the Univ. of Minnesota.

Chandler is part of the inaugural class for the Anoka High School Hall of Fame, which recognizes achievement in all aspects of life. Among those who are also in the induction class are entertainer Garrison Keiler, television host Gretchen Carlson and Greco-Roman Olympic medalist Brandon Paulson.

He has been married for 24 years to his wife Cindy and has two children.

BIOGRAPHY: James Johnson, Phoenix, Ariz.

James Johnson of Phoenix, Ariz, a coach of past U.S. Olympic and U.s. World Teams and a U.S. World Team member as an athlete, has been named as an Olympic coach in Greco-Roman wrestling for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

He is a club coach for 2012 U.S. Olympian Ben Provisor of the Sunkist Kids (74 kg).

Johnson served as a World Team coach for the 2011 U.S. World Team in Istanbul, Turkey. Johnson was also on the 2009 U.S. World Team coaching staff in Herning, Denmark.

He has coached U.S. Senior Greco-Roman teams on dozens international tours in the last eight years, including coaching at the Hungarian Grand Prix the last three years. Other nations where he has coached U.S. tour teams include Bulgaria, Serbia and Finland.

Johnson has served as the head Greco-Roman coach for the Sunkist Kids for the last eight years. 

The Sunkist Kids has won the USA Wrestling Div. II national title in Greco-Roman the last four years and five of the last six years. He has helped mentor a number of U.S. World and Olympic team members, as well as numerous national champions.

He has an extensive coaching background on the college level. He has coached the heavyweight wrestlers for Grand Canyon University the last two years. For 10 years, he was an assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State, working with head coach Bobby Douglas. He was also on the coaching staff at NC State when Tab Thacker was the NCAA heavyweight champion.

Johnson won two Pan American Championships gold medals, and won a silver medal at the 1991 Pan American Games. He was second in the World Cup three times. Johnson won three U.S. Nationals titles in Greco-Roman during his career, and was second in the 1992 Olympic Trials.

He was an NCAA qualifier for the University of Kentucky, competing for Fletcher Carr. Johnson was the first wrestler from D.H. Conley High School in Greenville, N.C. to win a state wrestling title when he won the North Carolina state meet in 1976. He was also the first athlete from North Carolina to be an All-American at the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals. Johnson was elected to the North Carolina Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.

BIOGRAPHY: Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Shon Lewis of Colorado Springs, a U.S. World Team coach and a U.S. World Team member as an athlete, has been named as an Olympic coach in Greco-Roman wrestling for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

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. He was also a member of the coaching staff at the 2008 Olympic Games.

He is the personal coach for three athletes who have qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team: Spenser Mango (55 kg), Justin Lester (66 kg) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg), all of the U.S. Army. Mango and Byers made their second U.S. Olympic teams, while Lester made his first. Byers was a 2002 World champion and three-time World medalist, while Lester has won two World bronze medals.

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. 

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 and the 2011 U.S. World Team. 

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 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.

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 for wrestling.

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 2012 U.S. Open held in Arlington, Texas. In fact, the U.S. Army has won the Div. I U.S. Open title for the last seven years, with 10 titles in the last 12 years.

The Army was also the champion at the 2012 Armed Forces Championships and has won 10 of the last 13 Armed Forces team titles. He has coached many U.S. National Team members and All-Americans during his tenure in all three Olympic wrestling styles. One of the athletes he coaches is 2005 World Champion Iris Smith in women’s freestyle.

Lewis has been named 2011 Greco-Roman Coach of the Year by USA Wrestling four times. (2002, 2003, 2006, 2011).

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.