One of the state's finest coaches from Northwestern Minnesota was Charles Bishop.

The Concordia College - Moorhead grad coached the Oklee High School and Oklee - Plummer High School wrestling programs for 27 years, establishing a fine 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 1970 he accepted a health and physical education teaching and wrestling coaching position at Oklee High School. Oklee 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 that "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 with four winning state titles and 17 others finishing as state place-winners. His teams finished second in the section tournament in 1979 and fourth in 1986, and he was selected as Region/Section Coach of the Year in l984, l995 and l996.

Bishop was inducted into the Dave Bartelma Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000.

As a wrestler, Bishop was a two-time NAIA national qualifier and won two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, capturing Outstanding Wrestler honors in l970. He served as team captain for the Concordia College wrestling team. Bishop had an impressive four-year career record at Concordia, going 66-13 under the guidance of legendary coach Finn Grinaker.

One of Bishop's greatest matches came after his college days when he defeated the legendary two NCAA Division I national champion Chuck Jean in a freestyle match in the AAU State Freestyle Open tournament at Coon Rapids High School in l972.

What is a great part of Coach Bishop's legacy beyond his competitive days on the mats or in coaching is that more than 10 of his athletes are now coaching, including Paul Cyr at New Richland - Hartland - Ellendale - Geneva, 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, Minnesota, 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.