When Cooper High School opened in 1964-65 a wrestling power began immediately as the Hawks captured the Minnesota State title their first season. The coach leading the way was Darrell Sohn. Sohn is a Blue Earth native. He went on to wrestler at Luther College where he graduated in 1957. His first coaching position was at Fairfax High School in the fall of 1957. He moved on to St. James from 1959 to 1964. He came to Cooper High School in 1964 and coached there until 1985. After some years off he started coaching again from 1991 to 1995 at Armstrong High School. He also did some officiating from 1957 to 1964 in Southern Minnesota. Darrell's Cooper teams captured state title in 1965 and 1969. They also placed second, fourth and eighth at State., Several District and Region titles too. He coached nine individual state champions and place winners Special honors for Sohn were his being named "Minnesota Wrestling Coach of the Year." His induction into the Dave Bartelma-Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1984. He was also named Minnesota USA Wrestling "Man of the Year" in 1995. He was honored with the Cooper High School "Wall of Fame" in 2001. Sohn's teams produced many outstanding individuals. The Lamphere brothers, both State Champions for Sohn went on to become All-Americans for the University of Minnesota. They and numerous others would go on to have All-American careers in college. Coach Sohn was heavily involved in the development of the State tournament. He was part of a small group of coaches that really laid the foundation for the great success the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament enjoys today. One of Sohn's ideas was the "Parade of Champions" still used today. He got the idea from watching the Olympics. He and Robbinsdale Coach John Grygelko also built a scoreboard for the old individual state Tournament so fans could follow the team leaders as team pints changed throughout the tournament. This and other ideas came from Sohn and this small group of coaches. As a teacher Sohn excelled as well, his advanced biology class scored highly on advanced placement biology tests. In a letter sent to Darrell and the School Board, Tom Bollin, Superintendent of schools at the time stated: "The performance of your students speaks volumes about your teaching. Darrell's talents go well beyond his expertise as a wrestling coach. He is also a talented wood carver! He has done numerous pieces through the years, and helped several former wrestling coaches get introduced to this hobby. Darrell Sohn exemplified excellence as a teacher, as a coach, and he helped Minnesota high school wrestling in the fastest growing and changing years of it's development. He truly is one of the legends of Minnesota High School Wrestling, and a coach who helped make a difference in the future success of our sport in Minnesota