Greg Newell grew up in Kansas and graduated college from Bethany College in the state before starting a 25-year coaching career. He got his coaching start in Larned, Kansas and was there for seven years, then moved to Durant, Oklahoma in 1980. Newell started the school's physical education program in 1982 and worked as a wrestling official for four years before returning to coaching in 1986 when he began both the junior high and high school wrestling programs at Durant. He went on to coach in Durant for 18 years before his retirement, building a competitive program that resulted in dozens of former wrestlers going on to become coaches themselves. Newell still works closely with Durant wrestling, including serving as radio broadcaster for the team. For his unwavering dedication to the sport, Greg Newell is honored with the 2018 Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.