The third child born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Moore, Michael Moore attended Petersburg (Virginia) Public Schools and got his start in wrestling as an eighth grader on Petersburg High School’s first wrestling team. After finishing third in the district and region tournaments that first year, he went on to be a three-time district champion and a four-time state qualifier.

He was awarded a scholarship to wrestle at Lock Haven University, where he was a two-time conference champion, a two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion and a three-time national qualifier. He was Lock Haven's first two-time champion and earned All-American honors with a fifth-place finish in 1979. He was given a bid to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and is a member of the Lock Haven University Hall of Fame and the Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame.

Returning to coach at Petersburg High School in the 1980s, Moore led his teams to many district and regional titles and coached Petersburg's only state champions, Charlie Branch and Kevin Turner. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he became the head coach at Virginia State University and led his team to its first state championship. Due to Title IX stipulations, Virginia State dropped wrestling in 1992.

Moore became head coach at Matoaca High School in Chesterfield, Virginia in 2005, and has led his teams to two regular season district championships. He has had three state finalists and two state champions, Neal Richards and Blake Roulo. In 2012, his team became the first Central Region team since the 1990s to medal at the AAA state tournament.

He has succeeded at all levels as a coach while demanding excellence, and, like all great coaches, his influence on young men transcends the sport.

Moore says that, "None of this would be possible without a great group of kids, and the best thing is to see the kids succeed and shine."