June 17, 2003
CLEVELAND - Cleveland State head wrestling coach Jack Effner announced Tuesday the hiring of Brian Keck and Gerald Harris as assistant coaches. Keck will serve as the top assistant after spending the last eight years at the Olympic Training Center while Harris will move into the Graduate Assistant role after recently completing the winningest career in CSU history.
As an Olympic resident athlete in Colorado Springs, Colo., Keck won the freestyle competition at the 2003 Pan-Am Games and was an eight-time United States Open All-American. A national champion at Heavyweight while at Cuyahoga Community College, the two-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-American went on to Bloomsburg where he served as team captain in 1995 and twice qualified for the Division I NCAA Championships. A state champion while at Padua Franciscan in Parma, Ohio, Keck graduated from Bloomsburg in 1995 with a B.A. in Social Welfare. He is scheduled to compete in the USA Wrestling World Team Trials on June 20-22 in Indianapolis along with Viking Heavyweight Russ Davie (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg).
The 2003 Eastern Wrestling League champion at 184 pounds, Harris completed his CSU career record with a school-record 118 victories and was a three-time NCAA qualifier. A native of Tulsa, Okla., he compiled a 40-5 record as a senior, including a third place finish at the prestigious Midlands Invitational and a school-record 18-1 mark in dual meets. Off the mat, Harris was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board, represented CSU at the 2002 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference and was named Homecoming King in 2001. He is set to graduate this summer with a B.A. in Secondary Education and plans to teach history.
"We are very excited to add Brian and Gerald to our staff," said Effner. "Brian brings a wealth of energy, enthusiasm and experience at the elite level to our program. In addition, I am thrilled to keep an individual of Gerald's caliber here at Cleveland State."
In his fifth year, Effner directed Cleveland State to one of the most successful seasons in school history, as the Vikings finished 13-6 in dual meets before coming in third at the EWL Championships, their highest finish since the 1986-87 campaign. In addition, CSU sent six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, led by EWL champions Harris and Rocco Mansueto (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) at 125 pounds.
