One of the true gentleman and coaching greats in Southern Minnesota is that of longtime Austin Coach, Chuck Prunty. A 29 - year coaching career at Tracy and Austin (3 at Tracy and 26 at Austin) as well as contributing efforts to the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association make Chuck a deserving recipient of the Service Award of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. From 1969 to 1974 Prunty's teams were ranked in the top 10 in State, and his 1970 team was ranked #1 in the State and went undefeated. He coached three individual State champions and 30 All-State wrestlers. Prunty was inducted into the Dave Bartelma Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1979. He is also a member of the Austin High School Athletic Wall of Fame. His career coaching record was 282-131-3. He was named Minnesota Class AA (Large school) "Coach of the Year" in 1990. He was also nominated for "National Coach of the Year" honors and received the distinguished 25-year coaching service award from the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Chuck served the sport of wrestling well too. He was President of the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association and he has served on several committees through the years. As a wrestler Chuck was a state runnerup while competing at Owatonna High School, graduating in 1953. He went on to wrestle at the University of Minnesota where he was a Big Ten runnerup for the Gophers. . Former Austin wrester, assistant coach and NFL professional football player David Simonson said "Chuck Prunty came to Austin in 1966. He was hired as a wrestling coach whose task was to rebuild the Austin program. He did just that. He set about recruiting students to the program and worked to instill in each of them his can do, tough and determined attitude. In three years Chuck Prunty built the program into a powerhouse. In his fourth year at Austin his team was the number one ranked wrestling team in the State of Minnesota. Chuck Prunty epitomizes what sportsmanship is. He taught his wrestlers to give everything they had and to follow the rules. There can be no higher tribute to a man than that he earned the respect of those that came to know him.