08/24/2026
In April 2026, our coach Clint Madden, received the NFHS Coaches Association 2024-2025 California Coach of the Year Award. This is a great honor for Coach Madden, Del Oro Wrestling, USA Gold Wrestling Club, and our community.
Commissioner Garrsion and the SJS Section staff, on behalf of the NHFS & CIF, recognized Coach Madden for this distinguished award at the Board of Managers Meeting in April.
Coach Madden began coaching at Del Oro in 1993 with Coach Bettencourt, became co-head coach in 1998 with Coach Sanchez, and took over as solo head coach in 2017.
In this time the program has produced 6 CIF State Finalists & 2 CIF State Champions.
He has helped 65 wrestlers qualify for the CIF State tournament, and placed 23 wrestlers on the podium in the Top8 at State, for a total of 37 CIF State medals in a sport with only one division.
With Coach Madden, Del Oro has produced State qualifiers every season, and State placers for 24 of 28 seasons.
In this time, Del Oro has earned 139 Sac Joaquin Section medals and 29 SJS Masters Champions, and finished Top10 out of over 200 teams 25 of 28 seasons.
They have won the Sierra Foothill League title 24 times, with 79 wrestlers winning an individual SFL Title for a total of 116 SFL Champions.
At USA Gold Wrestling Club the statistics are equally impressive with CAUSA & SCWAY State Champions, National Champions and top age group team finishes at major tournaments every year.
What outshines the podiums is the lifetime bonds between athletes, parents, and the community that Coach Madden has helped build at Del Oro and USA Gold. The family culture is reaffirmed every year in the Black & Gold.
Coach Madden welcomes new kids every season with a fun and hardworking spirit. A decade later, he directs those same kids toward university, and often a decade after that, he welcomes them back as fathers, mothers, and coaches. He drives kids across western states in the summer, flies with them across the country in the winter, rolls up mats after tournaments, makes home visits for struggling wrestlers, attends weddings and graduations, and even travels abroad with wrestlers.
Congratulations Coach Clint on your NFHS State Coach of the Year Award and thank you.
