There isn’t much varsity wrestling coach Doug Kline hasn’t accomplished during his 33 years at Lake Orion High School; but this year he reached another milestone, being named the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Coach of the Year.
‘I’m amazed sometimes,? he said. ‘It seems like yesterday I was getting out of college.?
Kline said he got his first introduction to the sport of wrestling at age five, and it has been a cornerstone of his life every since.
He grew up in Ann Arbor, and was among the last graduating class of the high school that would become Ann Arbor Pioneer.
His father was an athletic director, as well as a coach in Ann Arbor, and Kline said he was inspired by his father to pursue a career in education.
‘When I graduated, it was obvious I wanted to be a teacher and a coach,? he said. ‘I went to Western Michigan University, and I played baseball and wrestled.?
Kline gave up baseball at Western after his freshman year in order to have time to pursue his true passion, wrestling.
Kline also met his wife of 33 years, Sharon, while at WMU and they were married the year he took a teaching job in Lake Orion, 1972.
‘I couldn’t find any jobs on the west side of the state, that’s where my wife was from,? he said. ‘My father listened to the frustration of my not finding a job, and he called the athletic director of Utica Schools, who was a friend of his.?
Kline was told Utica wasn’t hiring, but that there was a small district in Lake Orion that was growing.
‘Lake Orion went from Class C to A just about overnight,? he said. ‘I got directions to Lake Orion from Ann Arbor, and I drove up here and got lost.?
Kline was offered a contract with Lake Orion and said he took ‘about five seconds? to consider it before he said yes.
‘My first year at the high school I was assistant wrestling coach to Doug Baker,? he said. Then Doug stepped down and I was transferred to the middle school.?
Kline got the junior high wrestling program started at Scripps and was there until 1978.
‘We ran the Junior High Oakland Tournament. We won that tournament twice, and my head started to swell,? he said.
Kline was the wrestling coach for a one year at Pontiac Catholic, now Notre Dame Prep, before coming back to help Marty Malitan with the high school team at LOHS.
‘I was assistant coach with him until 1985, and then Tim Fagan came along and I helped him,? Kline said. ‘By the fall of 1989, Tim became assistant principal at the high school and he knew that would take a lot of his time.?
Kline agreed to co-head coach the team with Fagan until 1994, when Fagan left and Kline became the wrestling team’s sole head coach.
‘So I’ve completed my 11th year as head coach,? he said. ‘My dad definitely influenced me to teach and coach. He’s my hero.?
Kline said his father was also a high school math teacher, who coached football, baseball, track and wresting.
‘I’ve coached wrestling, baseball, football, basketball and track,? Kline said. ‘The only thing I haven’t done that he did was be an athletic director. I don’t want to give up coaching.?
Kline said he knew from the time he was in seventh-grade that he would be a teacher. Sharon is also a teacher, at Waldon Middle School, and coaches the girls track team at LOHS.
‘I met Sharon in a bowling alley,? Kline said. ‘I was on the bowling team at Western.?
The Klines, who live in Oxford, have two children: Son Nathan, 26, lives in Royal Oak and is a marketing analyst for Beck USA. Daughter Heather, 19, is a freshman at Michigan State University.
Nathan graduated from Oxford High School, and Heather attended Oxford through Junior High and then transferred to Lake Orion High School.
‘Nathan played football and ran track,? Kline said. ‘He always said if he wrestled, everyone would know his dad was a coach and they’d expect him to be great.
‘Heather is doing well at MSU…She wanted to come to LOHS to swim. She is a Dragon through and through.?
So, said Kline, is he.
‘I absolutely love Lake Orion, and I love the kids here,? he said. ‘It’s been the greatest.?
Kline said he was eligible to retire three years ago but plans to stay on for at least another three.
‘The school has been good to me, and hopefully I’ve represented them well,? he said. ‘Looking back on this season, it will be difficult to express what it has meant to me, and a lot of people.?
Kline said this year a ‘solid group of parents? came on board to help rejuvenate the wrestling program, organizing an Alumni Homecoming and having the wrestling room painted.
‘We met every week from April through November,? said Kline. ‘We were trying to find the secret to bring the program back to what it used to be.?
The group adopted a motto: ‘Proud of our past, working in the present to create a future.?
‘They decided we needed four coaches, even though the school would only pay for two,? he said. ‘They fundraised to get the other two, ad that’s helped tremendously.?
Cory Kuzinski came on as a varsity assistant, and is a teacher in the Lake Orion district. Dave Allingham, a long-term substitute teacher in Lake Orion and a 1988 LOHS graduate, worked with the junior varsity, along with Mike Agro, who was a state runner up for LOHS in 1986.
‘You have to have a love of this sport in order to coach, and Cory loves this sport more than anyone I’ve ever known outside of myself,? said Kline.
Kline is pleased with the group of kids he worked with this year in the wrestling program, and said ‘I love these kids to death.?
‘It was key that the kids believed right away,? he said.
‘I had a picture of the 1990 state championship team enlarged and hung in the wrestling room. I had them sit down facing it, and I said ‘These guys are watching you.? It worked.
‘I told my wife I’m committed to this group of freshmen,? he said. ‘I want to stay another three years.?
After he retires, Kline said he and Sharon will move to Florida, where they are building a house.
‘We will live in Citrus County, and I see myself moving down there and volunteering my services to the Citrus High School wrestling team,? he said.
‘I don’t want to be a head coach, but if I’m blessed with another 20 years of life, I’ll continue helping anyway I can.?