Colonel Anderson is currently a member of the Connecticut Army National Guard with more than 30 years of service.

He has been mobilized three times in support of the Global War on Terrorism, including a deployment in Afghanistan. He was awarded a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Charlie is currently the Commander of the 169th Regiment (RTI).

Charlie has been coaching wrestling in Connecticut since 1986 when he spent three years as an assistant coach at Southern Connecticut State before becoming an assistant coach at Norwalk High. He was the head coach at Norwalk from 1991-99 and was recognized as the FCIAC Coach of the Year in 1999.

Charlie has had two tours as the head coach in Trumbull in 2007-12 and 2016 to present, winning the FCIAC Coach of the Year award a second time in 2008. He was named the Connecticut High School Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year in Class LL in 2012. Charlie didn’t step away from the program after the 2012 season. He was an assistant coach with the Eagles from 2013-15.

His 2017 Trumbull team (20-1) had the best record in his career and the 2018 Trumbull team (26-3) had the most wins in a single season in his career. In February 2019, Charlie (301-86-3) picked up his 300th career victory.

Charlie's teams at Trumbull and Norwalk finished in the top five of the Class LL tournament 10 times, including Trumbull's second place finish at the 2019 Class LL championships - the highest finish for one of Charlie's squads. Trumbull team in 2019 (25-5) finished No. 4 in the final Connecticut Wrestling Online top 10 poll, the highest finish ever for the Eagles.

Charlie and his wife, Gillian, live in Trumbull and have a son, Ben. Their daughter, Abigail, passed away in 2014.

Published by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, April 2019
Profile photo taken April 2019