Sammie Henson joins Army wrestling staff

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Rusty Davidson (Army Sports Information)
03/02/2003


WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army head wrestling coach Chuck Barbee announced today that Sammie Henson, a freestyle silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games, will be joining his staff at West Point as head assistant coach.     Henson, a 1995 graduate of the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in Park, Recreation, and Tourism Management, spent the past two seasons as an assistant to head coach Troy Sunderland at Penn State. Under his tutelage, the Nittany Lions placed sixth at the 2003 NCAA Division I Tournament.     While at Penn State, Henson was responsible for developing training programs for wrestlers along with running practices. He helped develop the design and layout of a new wrestling room and assisted in the recruitment of student-athletes to Penn State.     Henson helped guide lightweights Josh and Scott Moore to All-America honors this past season, and was instrumental in the Nittany Lions' third-place Big-10 Conference showing, their highest since 1999.     Prior to his coaching experience at Penn State, Henson coached at Oklahoma, Missouri and Northern Iowa.     Along with his coaching experience, Henson has spent his share of time on the wrestling mat competing in numerous national and international competitions since winning back-to-back NCAA titles while at Clemson in 1993 and 1994. He won a World Championship in 1998 and claimed U.S. National titles in 1998 and 2000 as well.     "The addition of Sammie Henson to our staff is a reflection of how committed our athletic department is to building a championship-caliber program," said Barbee. "He is an encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge and has won nearly every major competition that kids across the country dream about doing some day. Our wrestlers and our recruit's goals are to be an NCAA Champion; Sammie Henson is going to help us make those goals a reality. Needless to say we are very excited to have Sammie join our staff."     Henson has won five international freestyle titles, including one in Poland and one in Turkey in 2001, and numerous national freestyle and Greco-Roman events. A three-time All-American, he competed at Missouri as well as Clemson during his collegiate career. He has won University National, Junior National and Espoir titles in his career as well as three Missouri state high school titles.     "I've known Coach Barbee since we were both at Oklahoma and I hold him in high regard," said Henson. "It is a great opportunity to come to a place (West Point) with such history. I am excited and looking forward to working with the wrestlers and the staff. It is a good fit for me and I think I can offer a lot because of my experience at the collegiate and national levels."