One of the state's fi nest coaches from Northwestern Minnesota was Charles Bishop. The Concordia College - Moorhead grad coached Oklee High School and Oklee - Plummer High School Wrestling programs for 27 years, establishing a fi ne 216-118-4 record. He retired from coaching in l997. Bishop graduated from Park Rapids High School in l966 and then attended Concordia College. After graduation in l970 he accepted a health and physical education teaching and wrestling coaching position at Oklee High School. Oklee later paired with Plummer in l982. Bishop successfully coached during that transition. Beyond the statistics, Bishop's coaching career reflects the respect and loyalty of his wrestlers and even competitor coaches. Gary Brantl, former Plummer High School coach, and later coaching partner to Bishop at Oklee - Plummer said this about Bishop: "Even more important than his wins and accomplishments, his success is shown by the respect and loyalty of his wrestlers, and all those he has touched in his years of coaching. Charlie always had time for every wrestler, whether he was a 20 match winner or a 20 match loser. It didn't matter. The stats are worthy to mention too. Fifty of Bishop's wrestlers qualified for the State tournament. Four of those wrestlers won State titles with 17 State place winners. His l979 team placed second in Section and fourth in l986. He was selected as Region/Section "Coach of the Year" three times l984, l995 and l996. Bishop was inducted into the Dave Bartelman Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000. As a wrestler, Bishop was a two-time NAIA national qualifier and won two MIAC conference titles, capturing "Outstanding Wrestler" honors in l970. He served as Team Captain for the Concordia College Wrestling team. One of Bishop's greatest matches came after his college days when he defeated the legendary multi - NCAA National Champion Chuck Jean in a freestyle match in the AAU State Freestyle Open tournament at Coon Rapids High School in l972. Bishop had an impressive 4-year career record at Concordia, going 66-13 under the guidance of legendary coach, Finn Grinaker. What is a great part of Coach Bishop's legacy beyond his competitive days on the mats or in coaching is that over ten of his athletes are now coaching. These include such successful coaches as Paul Cyr at New Richland - Hartland - Ellendale - Geneva, former two - time State Champion Todd Bergeron at Greenbush - Middle River - Badger and his son, Greg Bishop, at Catalina Foothills in Tucson, Arizona. Charles now lives in Plummer, MN, with his wife, Connie. They have six children: Greg, Loni, Brett, Quinn, Carl, and Talia. Charles enjoys the time he gets to spend with his family and his five grandchildren. Bishop's spare time is spent carving, hunting, and fishing. Charlie Bishop brought greater recognition to northwestern Minnesota Wrestling, both as a wrestler and coach. Many young men learned life lessons from his mentorship and his legacy makes that part of our state proud of him and the quality of wrestling from the area.