Bill Grant has been the voice of California wrestling for nearly 50 years.

Bill’s wrestling roots date back to the early 1960s when he was first introduced to the sport at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California. He continued his academic and athletic career at Foothill College and San Francisco State, earning a bachelor's degree in physical education and credentials at the University of California, Berkeley and Chapman University.

On the mat, Bill won a Far Western Conference title and earned two trips to the NCAA Division II Championships. He then capped his mat career with an individual title at the Western Regionals in Greco-Roman and competed at the U.S. National Championships. His college record was 25-6-1, and he was a member of the school's first conference championship team.

Total dedication and commitment are a few words that describes Bill’s lifetime passion for the sport of wrestling.

With over four decades of teaching and coaching to his credit, Bill’s accomplishments both as a coach and promoter of wrestling in California is very impressive and second to none.

Bill became the wrestling head coach at Oakland High School in 1973 and led his team to three Oakland City Section Championships. Arguably the toughest high school state tournament in the nation to win or place in the top eight, Bill accomplished a feat that today has not been repeated by any other coach in the Oakland City Section by leading his 1976 team to a fourth-place finish at the California Interscholastic Federation Championships (California is a single class tournament with over 800 programs) and earning him Oakland Section Coach of the Year.

Bill also coached at Pacifica, Roseburg (Oregon), Monterey, and Pacific Grove High Schools, producing numerous league, sectional, and state medalists.

He served in 1972-73 as the coach for the Special Olympics at the San Francisco Recreation Center, and he was co-coach of the Wan-tu-wazuri Wrestling Club in Oakland from 1972-76. From 1978-1997, Grant was head coach at Monterey High School where they won the Central Coast Section Championship in 1982, produced 39 CCS medalists and four state medalists. In 1990, Bill was chosen as CCS Coach of the Year. At the same time, Bill was coach of the Monterey County State Special Olympics.

In the promotional world, Bill founded the California Wrestler Newsletter in 1974 and for several decades he promoted the Golden State to levels not experienced prior or to this day. This included being a contributing writer for several of the nation’s wrestling publications, as well as being the lead writer for the annual CIF State Championship previews for over two decades.

Moreover, Bill committed a great deal of his tenure directing the Monterey Clinic of Champions, which for 41 years featured the top wrestlers and coaches from around the nation and world. To name a few, Dan Gable, John Smith, Jordan Burroughs, Cael Sanderson, and the Beloglazov brothers, Sergie and Anatoly, were clinicians at this prestigious clinic.

According to Bill, “I promoted wrestling for the love of the sport. I really enjoyed every minute giving back to a sport that did so much for me…It was always fun!”

Bill’s extensive contributions did not stop at coaching, writing, or promoting.

He was also an active member of several wrestling committees and advisory boards. They include being the President of the California High School Wrestling Association, executive wrestling committees at the section and state levels, and board member with the California Wrestling Hall-of-Fame for well over a decade.

For his hard work and dedication to wrestling, Bill was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and in 2015 received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the California Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

There are not enough words to describe Bill’s passion for the sport of wrestling.

In conclusion, his passion and total commitment for the betterment of wrestling has made a significant difference and impacted many.