New Kent’s Faus named coach of the year by National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Virginia chapter

Mike Faus (left), the Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's coach of the year, urges on one of his wrestlers during the conference championship meet at New Kent in February.

Alan Chamberlain photo

In his 14 years at the helm of New Kent High School’s wrestling program, Mike Faus has built a perennial contender at all levels of competition. And now he is being honored for his efforts.

The Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame has named Faus its 2015 Coach of the Year in recent voting conducted by its members. He is scheduled to receive the award during the group’s annual banquet on April 18 in Glen Allen.

“I didn’t even know I was up for it until I was told I won it,” he said, mentioning he had been nominated a few times in the past. “It’s quite an honor. I was surprised, but very pleasantly surprised.”

And surprisingly, Faus does not possess a wrestling background. Fourteen years ago when he interviewed for a job at New Kent after spending two years elsewhere teaching at the middle school level, football was his objective. But Eddie Allen, New Kent’s athletics director at the time, had something else in mind for the Bridgewater College graduate.

“Coach Allen asked me if I was interested in wrestling,” Faus said. “He said he needed someone to work with the program, and that’s how I backed into it.

“Coach Allen, not being a wrestling guy, really helped the program,” he added. “He’d always fight me on it, but he’d always get me what I wanted. That support has continued under [former athletics director] Julie Ellis and [current athletics director] John Spiak.”

Faus also credits his success to a strong contingent of assistant coaches.

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of support,” he said, pointing to longtime assistant Andy Hintz, who was voted assistant coach of the year by the Virginia chapter in 2010, and current chief assistant John Goodbody.

“I try to surround myself with people who know things I don’t know,” he said. “There’s no ego problem here like some coaches have. I want to get the job done.

“Organization and program building is my strength, I think,” he added.

Over his career at New Kent, Faus has built a 283-72 record in dual meet competition. His teams have won eight district crowns and four regional championships. His latest edition won its first conference tournament in February to go along with district and regional wins.

In state tourneys, Trojan teams finished third in 2012 and 2014. This year’s team placed fifth with two individual state champions and one runner-up.

Faus, meanwhile, takes pride in his wrestlers’ accomplishments after they leave the New Kent mats. Over the years, five have won appointments to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Some have continued their careers at the college level, and three from this year’s team — B.C. LaPrade (Virginia Tech), Blake Hohman (VMI), Brian Gray (Ferrum) — are headed in that direction. A few have followed in Faus’ footsteps, landing coaching jobs at the high school level.

“They went on and did good things,” he said. “And that’s what’s important.”