Dr. Petros Petrosyan
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Dr. Petros Petrosyan has a PhD in Coaching from Moscow University and over 30 years of coaching experience and is still competing at the Masters/Veterans world-level. Half a dozen male & female students of Dr. Petrosyan are currently ranked in the nation (in HS Folkstyle and JR Freestyle) and on the Senior US World Team in Freestyle.
As a Junior & senior wrestler Petros was 9-time Armenian National Champion spent much of his time wrestling in Russia under the tutelage of both Armenia’s & USSR’s national team coaches. His goal was to win the Olympic Gold at the senior-level but an ill-fated practice in which he was pitted against the Armenian national heavyweight champion who outweighed him tremendously resulted in a career-ending knee injury at the age of 19 that took a decade to heal enough for him to get on the mats again.
Today Coach Petrosyan is currently one of the most decorated U.S. Masters & Veterans Wrestlers training and competing today. For ex. this past Summer of 2022 he competed (representing the U.S.A.) at the UWW Masters & Veterans Worlds in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and earned GOLD with all PINS!
Daily Pilot article 10.23.22 https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/story/2022-10-21/world-class-wrestler-to-lead-ocean-view-looks-to-revitalize-program
Petros was born in Vanadzor a small city in central Armenia. Vanadzor is a spectacular city full of nature; it is in a valley and has three rivers running through. Petros spent most of his time in the wild in the forests running, skiing, and training. The city was a big factor in Petros’s early career as the city had a strong, multi-generational wrestling culture, similar to how Americans view our Football. Petros in his youth began to train at a large wrestling academy and excelled and even now this academy is still running and Petros will visit yearly and bring new wrestling equipment for the students.
Unlike in the U.S.A., in the eastern European educational system one can pursue a university to receive a degree in Sports Coaching & Training. Coach Petrosyan started this education in this area in 1980 and received his Masters in 1984 from Vanadzor State University and later PhD in Physical Training with a specialization in Wrestling, from Moscow State Academy in 1998.
During his competitive younger years Petros trained with, befriended and competed on the same teams the best wrestlers in both Armenia and USSR, notables such as Anatoli and Sergei Belaglazov (video), Stepan Sarkissian (video), and Martin Berberyan (more info).
Coach Petrosyan’s Credentials:
Republic of Armenia National F/S Champion: 9 times
US Open Masters National Champion: 8 times (7x Freestyle & 1x Greco)
First Place at UWW Veterans World F/S Championship: 2016, 2022
Second Place at UWW Veterans World F/S Championship: 2021
Third Place at UWW Veterans F/S World Championships 2 times
A few Articles, Videos about Petros or mentioning:
JOE GONZALES (COACH/MENTOR)
Olympian Joe Gonzales vs. Olympic Gold medalist, Anatoli Belglasov
Joe Gonzales - Induction Video into the Distinguished National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Joe "Gonzo" GonzAles
While Huntington Beach resident Joe Gonzales, might be one of the nicest, most humble people, in the wrestling community he is known as Joe “Gonzo” Gonzales, one of the most formidable wrestlers ever from USA's Golden Era of Wrestling and it’s greatest takedown artist. Even today Dan Gable speaks highly about Joe's toughness and ability to takedown opponents at will when recalling the greats of international wrestling.
National Wrestling Hall of Famer, Joe Gonzales was inducted in Stillwater, Okla. for his many achievements and contributions in the wrestling community and perhaps wrestling's most prolific takedown artist. Gonzo's '81 record for single season takedowns in NCAA DI division still stands today, 448 in one season. One of the NCAA’s oldest unbroken records.
Joe competitively wrestled for 20 years in the NCAA Championships, the World Cup (which he won 3 times), the World Championship, the Olympics and (the word's toughest tournament) the Tbilisi Tournament in Russia which he also won. Wrestling offered him the opportunity to an education and the ability to travel and see the world.
Joe was born in East LA in the heart of Boyle Heights to a hard-working Mexican-American family. Growing up, he learned quickly the value of hard work, discipline and dedication. In his high school senior year, as the post-season was about to begin and having a 30-0 record, Joe suffered an injury in practice that caused him to sit out the post-season and curtailed his dream of winning an individual CIF state championship.
“I was distraught that I never achieved my goals of being a California state champion. Even so, during the summer after graduating high school, I traveled to Iowa to compete in the Senior Freestyle Nationals at the Iowa University Fieldhouse (AKA as Fargo), where I was fortunate enough to win the tournament and also win the most Outstanding Wrestler Award,” Joe Gonzales
Joe’s parents insisted that he went to college to obtain an education and that’s precisely what he did as he enrolled at East Los Angeles Community College to get his physical education degree. Joe’s parents didn’t want him to be another gang death statistic and join the working field rather than attend college.
His East Los Angeles Coaches – Ben Bohlander, Robert Sheppard, and Shiro Aoyama –influenced him to pursue wrestling beyond the Junior College level. The coaches changed Gonzales’s life for the better as they instructed him about life and education. If it wasn’t for them, Joe wouldn’t know where he would be today. Gonzales 48-1 record and an individual Junior College state championship in 1976 at 118 lbs. got him a lot of attention from some of the best Division I colleges. After a tough decision, he decided to attend the University of Oklahoma and wrestle for Coach Stan Abel.
“The Oklahoma coaching staff tried to modify my style of wrestling and thus the reason I decided to return back to East Los Angeles and finish my associate’s degree. Even before I wrestled at East Los Angeles, Shiro Aoyama taught me the Japanese style of wrestling –to be slick, quick and create angles during my matches to take down my opponents. “
BRIAN JONES
Brian Jones is the defending 2022 UWW Heavy Weight Greco-Roman Champion, having earned his GOLD in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He is also a mutiple-time World Medalist and U.S. OPEN Champion in Freestyle.
Brian started wrestling in high school at Santa Monica High School under the NWHOF’er Coach Mark Black.
As a person, he is one of the nicest most considerate people in any wrestling room. He loves to give back to the sport and help others to learn and develop their skills. He also has decades of experience in coaching as well as competing.
We are very lucky to have Brian as one of our coaches.
GARRETT DRUCKER (MENTOR)
Quiet, respectful and humble yet decisive in action, Garrett Drucker personifies hard work and grit. He has a lot of what it takes to be a successful DI NCAA wrestler these days. Further, Garrett's wrestling technique is very similar to Joe Gonzales' so he makes a great coach to youths at OCG teaching the neutral position for us.
Garrett also believes strongly about giving back to the youth wrestling community and mentoring youth.
Currently Garrett is an entrepreneur, running his own business, GD Signs in Costa Mesa, CA. Garrett believes strongly in giving back to the sport that gave him so much, and helping the next generation of youth to make the correct life choices walk down similar successful life paths.
In 2007 Garret was Edison H.S.'s most decorated wrestler ever and the only CIF state champion ever from that school. He won that championship in 2007 at 135lbs under Edison Charger Head Coach Luis Renteria.
Drucker won a CIF-SS title and placed third at the CIF Masters in 2007.
As a junior in 2006, Drucker placed second at CIF and advanced to the CIF Masters meet as well.
After high school, Garrett was recruited to Oregon State University where he qualified for the NCAA DI national championships 4 times at 132lbs..
Brothers-in-wrestling: Jason Lara, Nick Knowles, Valentin Kalika and Garrett Drucker.
Dr. Bruce Gabrielson (MENTOR)
Bi-coastal Huntington Beach/Maryland resident Dr. Bruce "Snake" Gabrielson is not your typical wrestler. As a competitor, he was 66-6 in college and won 8 individual AAU Grand National Titles in open and age groups. As a wrestling coach at the Southern Maryland Wrestling Club, his club teams have won the AAU National Championships 28 times in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Folkstyle. Bruce was a wrestling coach at Cal State Long Beach in the 60's and 70's, was the US Army Team coach for two years, and a US Sombo Team coach for three years.
As a surfing competitor, he started entering contests in 1964, received a 3A ranking in 1967, and soon after placed as high as 3rd at the US Championships. That same year he finished 3rd in the final US Rankings. He continued to compete in age groups until his late 60s.
Among his technical contributions, he researched bandwidth capabilities on DARPAnet before it became the Internet while at the Naval Research Lab in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that time he also started helping a number of researchers with their masters and doctoral studies.
From the 80s until his retirement in 2014, Dr. Gabrielson was a successful engineer in the field of computer security. Bruce has 3 masters degrees: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Business plus a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering. He also has a Secondary Teaching Credential in Math and Physics.
But as an athlete, scholar and surfer, during the dynamic 60's and 70's, he was very busy himself and not just in wrestling. As a competitor, he started entering USSA contests in 1964, received a 3A ranking in 1967, and soon after placed as high as 3rd at the US Championships. That same year he finished 3rd in the final US Rankings.
Researching bandwidth capabilities on ARPAnet while at the Naval Research Lab in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that time I was also helping a number of researchers with their masters and doctorial research.
In the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, Dr. Gabrielson, was a successful engineer in the field of computer security. Bruce has 3 masters degrees: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Business plus a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering. He also has a Secondary Teaching Credential in Math and Physics.
