Chuck Harris was one of the pioneers of wrestling in the state of Virginia. When he became a head coach in 1948, there were only about ten high school wrestling teams in the state. Since he had wrestled and played football for Appalachian State Teachers College, he was immediately called upon for his experience and leadership in coaching. 

During a 50-year coaching career that lasted until 1997, Harris coached teams that won eight district titles along with team finishes of 2nd and 3rd in the state. His career dual meet record was 154-34. He also served a term as president of the Northern Virginia Wrestling Federation, a term as president of the Northern Virginia Wrestling Officials Association and represented the Southeast during a term on the NFHS rules committee. 

Coach Harris was the first wrestling coach at Yorktown High School and coached there until moving up to Athletic Director. He also coached All-State athletes at Maury, Wakefield, Yorktown, and O’Connell high schools. On his 1966-67 team at Yorktown, he coached five wrestlers who went on to compete for four years at the collegiate level before earning their degrees.

Always willing to share and develop the sport, Harris founded the annual Arlington Summer Wrestling Clinic which was attended by thousands of area athletes over the years. Coach Harris brought in top college coaches from around the country for the event. He was inducted into the Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Arlington Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

His greatest legacy may be his being a good role model and mentoring thousands of young people as a teacher and a coach. He developed both character and talent. He taught his athletes to “Win like a gentleman and take a loss like a man.” While highly competitive, he was always gracious to the victors after a loss and taught such lessons to his athletes.