Ron wrestled for Ken Bergstad at Blue Earth High School, where he was fourth as a junior and won the state championship as a senior in 1951. Ron attended the University of Minnesota and placed fourth in the Big 10 Championships. Ron took his first coaching job at Worthington High School from 1956 - 1958. Ron was the head coach for 33 years at Anoka High School from 1958 - 1992. Ron's teams won three state championships and four runner-up finishes. An interesting note is that Ron's first and last state championship teams at Anoka were 31 years apart. Ron coached 18 individual wrestlers that won 22 individual state championships. Ron coached four Olympic Wrestlers in the likes of Dave and Jim Hazelwinkel, Dan Chandler, and Brandon Paulson that competed in six straight Olympics. Ron's 463 career coaching wins were the most in state history at the time of his retirement. Ron became the fourth wrestling coach inducted into the MSHSL Hall of Fame in March 2003, and is also a member of the MWCA Bartelma Coaches Hall of Fame and the Minnesota High School Coaches Association.