When Waynesburg University wrestling head coach Ron Headlee entered collegiate coaching, winning Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year was just a dream for him. Now, he’s won seven.

After Waynesburg won its third consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championship last weekend, Headlee was named PAC Coach of the Year. Despite the role Headlee plays with the highly acclaimed wrestling program, he doesn’t see himself playing a major role.

“It’s just humbling to me, I just feel like I’m a small part in all of it,” Headlee said. “I have great guys in our rooms. I think each of our coaches have a little special niche and I just feel like it’s my job as head coach to try and see all parts work together and that is what I enjoy doing.”

Winning the conference championship wasn’t easy this year for Headlee. Throughout the season the team battled through injuries and didn’t have national-qualifier Ken Burrs for the PAC Championship. In the ups and downs the team experienced, Headlee sees an unwavering resolve in his athletes.

“As a team, we had a lot of injuries and it is easy for the team to just fold,” Headlee said. “We had a rough first semester and each one contributed and the way we won it we were down early and then came back. They just kept believing. So, as a coach its always gratifying to see.”

Next, the team will prepare for regionals before turning its eyes on the National Championships.

After senior Jake Evans became the first Jacket wrestler to ever become a national champion, Headlee wants to find a way to get a wrestler back on the national podium.

“You just say man that’s pretty fun getting up on that podium, it would be nice to get somebody back there but you are just never sure,” Headlee said. “When it happens, it’s just like a fairy tale—you don’t think it could happen to you.”

At this point, it seems like Headlee has accomplished everything a coach could aim for at the collegiate level with seven PAC Coach of the Year awards, seven conference titles and a National Champion. However, there’s still more Headlee wants to accomplish.

“I think we have four or five guys who have the potential to make it to nationals and I would like to be a top-15 team or top-10 team [in Division III],” Headlee said.

As the team prepares to go into regionals, Headlee said no major changes need to be made to the team. Instead, he’s focused on small adjustments.

“Now it’s just a lot of fine tuning,” Headlee said. “I don’t ever like to change much before you go into regionals or anything like that, so you just want to do what you do best.”

Regardless of how the Jackets perform at regionals, Headlee has already proven his team is at the top of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. While the PAC Coach of the Year award was only presented to Headlee, he said all his coaches should have their name on the trophy.

“The award goes to me, but it’s to all of them,” Headlee said. “It should have all their names on it.”