John Virnich
Lifetime Service to Wrestling

John began his coaching career in Michigan in 1991 at Algonac High School, where he successfully led a program that had been struggling and helped the school achieve its first ever team district title. After two years, John moved to Lapeer West High School in 1993.

During John’s head coaching tenure at Lapeer West, the school won the Division II team state championship in 2000 and 2001. Overall at Lapper West, John’s teams won two team state titles, three team regional titles, and nine team district titles. Lapeer West, during John’s tenure as head coach, had 10 individual state champion, 34 state place winners, and 68 state qualifiers. John retired from coaching at the end of the 2003. In 2001, Lapeer West High School was ranked 20th in the United States, and John Virnich was named the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year for Region 4. John was also named Coach of the Year for the State of Michigan. John returned to coaching at Algonac High School shortly after, and he worked as a head coach there from 2003 until 2006. Once again, Algonac High School improved dramatically with his returned, as the school won back-to-back team district titles.

In addition to John’s coaching credentials, those coaches who competed against a John Virnich team understood that his teams were always in great condition, were technically sound, and were, for lack of a better term, “mat savvy.” John was highly regarded among his peers due to his integrity, his passion for the sport, and his ability to turn underachievers into successful wrestlers and more importantly, better human beings.

John spent several years coaching in the State of Illinois before moving to Michigan in 1991. In Illinois, John coached the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation (IKWF) for six years. Also, John served as an assistant with the Villa Lombard Cougars, where the school finished second in the state. In addition, John served as the head coach of the Lake Park Lancers where Sam Gerasi and Brett Janise went on to become Illinois High School state champions.

John Virnich never had a losing season as a coach.