Raider wrestling coaches earn top district honors

Steve Hood, Lee Largent, and Victor Camarena have all been named district wrestling coaches of the year for the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association as voted on by their fellow coaches in the district.

Hood won the 2B District 6 wrestling coach of the year; Largent won the award for assistant coach of the year; and Camarena won the award for junior high coach of the year.

"It's awesome," said Raider wrestler Kaleb Horn, who has won state championships twice and is going for a third with Hood as his coach. "He's always been there for me, and he's always in the room. He's always getting us hyped up. He's bold. It's awesome what he's doing and what he's done for me and the other wrestlers. He's been there since I was probably 7 years old, and he's been there ever since."

"This is his last year of coaching before he retires," said Lake Roosevelt Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen. "His list of accolades are just astounding with how many kids and teams he's taken to state. The district coaches wanted to honor him."

"It's an honor to be recognized by your peers," Hood said, adding that he's coached wrestling for 28 years. "It's great."

Hood will be up against another coach to win regional coach of the year, and if he wins that, eligible to win state coach of the year.

Horn also spoke about Largent. "He's always been an important assistant coach to me and the guys, always helping us getting ready and making sure we're in check and we're in weigh-ins and everything like that. He has a very important role too."

"Lee has over 19 years of coaching and has been there all along," said Rasmussen said. "So they recognized him for all his years of service and dedication."

Rasmussen said that Camarena earned the award by building up the wrestling program for the younger wrestlers. "Victor has done a great job of getting kids to turn out," he said. "He just hosted that huge junior-high tournament, the first of its kind in this area."

Rasmussen said the event drew eight teams and over 150 wrestlers.

"It was Camarena's idea and creation," Rasmussen continued. "He had been working on it for over a year, did a very good job with it."