Riley made his mark

Coach of the Year worked to put Buchanan on top before stepping down.

Published online on Tuesday, Apr. 10, 2007

When Dustin Riley was put in charge of the Buchanan High wrestling team, it already was an emerging state power.

But that wasn't good enough for the first-time varsity head coach, so Riley and his staff kept pushing until the Bears were firmly cemented among California's elite.

Mission accomplished.

Riley -- selected as The Bee's wrestling Coach of the Year -- concluded a successful eight-year run at Buchanan with a third-place finish at the state championships on March 4. He resigned for family reasons following the season after leading the Bears to four top-five state placings, including the 2006 state title.

"With the help of my assistants, when I was 26 years old I took over a well-established program and took it from there," Riley said. "We got more involved at the lower levels and made better connections. We developed the program even more over the years. Now we have 50-plus kids in the room with way above-average talent."

Riley was selected for his second straight Coach of the Year honor in part for leading the Bears to the best finish at the state meet by a Central Section school this season, and in part for his overall body of work that includes at least a share of eight consecutive league titles and two Central Section championships. Riley edged Tri-River Athletic Conference rival Steve Tirapelle, who directed Clovis to a fourth-place finish at state as five of the seven Cougars in the meet earned medals.

Riley is quick to praise the work of assistants Jason Gaeth-Pearce, Rod Balch, Anthony Morales, Ronnie Silva, Chip Meredith, Lonnie Nash, Mando Mendez and Zhon Kuraspedani for their contributions to a program that has crowned 21 individual section champions, 19 state medalists and three high school All-Americans in the past eight years.

"As a group, the program has been very successful," Riley said. "There are so many people involved in getting the program where it is right now: athletes, parents, coaches and administrators. I was put in this position, and everyone's hard work paid off."

While admitting plenty of hard work has been done, eight-year assistant Gaeth-Pearce said that alone isn't the secret to Riley's success.

"It's his relationship with the kids, he has such a good relationship with them," Gaeth-Pearce said. "Sometimes if they don't want to do something for themselves or for their parents or for the team, they will flat out do it for Coach Riley. He has a way of making each kid feel special. They will do things for him. They will step up in a big match not to disappoint Coach Riley."

Gaeth-Pearce said some of Riley's best work came when he wasn't actually doing any coaching. Like during the 4- to 6-hour bus rides to tournaments. Or during down time at tournaments while sitting in the stands. That's the time he used to get to know his players as people.

"He's just there for us all the time," said Buchanan 171-pounder Eric Smith. "He helps each of us with whatever we've got going on, be it home life or wrestling. He's the guy who would rather pick you up than put you down. He makes you work harder to accomplish your goals."