Dennis Preece
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Dennis Preece, (born Stanley Dennis Preece; March 4, 1940April 25, 1997) was born in
Vernal, Utah Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, approximately east of Salt Lake City and west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown t ...
, and moved early in his childhood to
Craig, Colorado Craig is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Moffat County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,060 at the 2020 United States Census. Craig is the principal city of the Craig, C ...
, where he attended Moffat County High School. In high school, Preece played football and basketball. He attended
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
for one year before transferring to Colorado State College (now known as the
University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...
) where he graduated with a teaching degree in mathematics and
industrial arts Industrial arts is an educational program that features the fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial Arts are commonly referred to as Technology Education. It may include small engine re ...
. While at Colorado State College, he met his future wife Mary Ann Schattinger, whom he married on March 21, 1964. They had three children (Brian, Deanna and Scott) together. Preece then took his first teaching job at Uintah High School in the fall of 1964. Besides coaching wrestling and golf, Preece coached football and
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
. His other interests included
oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...
,
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
and
quarter horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at ...
training.


Coaching years

Preece was a highly successful high school
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
coach in Utah, USA. Preece won nine wrestling state titles over a 12-year span from 1966 to 1977 at Uintah High School in
Vernal, Utah Vernal, the county seat and largest city in Uintah County is in northeastern Utah, approximately east of Salt Lake City and west of the Colorado border. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,089. The population has since grown t ...
. His teams finished second twice and third once to go along with those nine state titles. Preece also coached Uintah to a
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
state title in 1969. At Uintah High School, Preece coached 47 individual state champions and 101 total state place winners (places 1–4), along with seven
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
ns. He coached the second and third 3-time state champions in Utah wrestling history _and_Scott_Ruppe_(1974,_1975,_1976).html" ;"title="ohn Price (1969, 1970, 1971) and Scott Ruppe (1974, 1975, 1976)">ohn Price (1969, 1970, 1971) and Scott Ruppe (1974, 1975, 1976) and in 1971 and 1972 he had seven wrestlers win state titles out of the then 12 weight classes with a state record 10 state finalists in 1971. Preece compiled a dual meet record of 208-16-2 while at Uintah High School and his teams won 50 tournaments. He was voted as Utah's Wrestling Coach of the Year by his peers five times and was named the National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1977 by Wrestling USA Magazine. While at Uintah, Preece started the Vernal or Uintah Tournament of Champions in 1973, which is the longest continuous invitational tournament in Utah. Preece was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the USA Wrestling Utah/Utah Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. Preece was also on the forefront of developing youth wrestling in Utah. His "Tiger League" wrestling program developed wrestlers that would feed Uintah High School's dynastic run. He also coached high school all-star teams from Utah that competed in international competitions at
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
and
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
. The team he took to Montreal used some of the Olympic facilities prior to the 1976 summer games. Preece also hosted a youth national team from Japan that competed against the top high school wrestlers from Utah. After Uintah, Preece coached at Cyprus High School and Skyline High School, both in
Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...
(Utah). In his last year coaching at Skyline in 1991, Preece coached two state champions including his youngest son Scott, who won the 1991 4A state title at 145 pounds. His other state champion, Jake Marshall at 171 pounds, became Preece's last and eighth All-American as Marshall placed eighth at the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) Senior Nationals.


Legacy

Preece's coaching tree includes former wrestlers Joe Wolfe Davis, who won seven state titles coaching wrestling at Monticello High School (Utah), Ed Johnson, who won three state titles coaching at Uintah High School and his son Brian Preece, who was the head coach at Provo High School (Utah) from 1994 to 2006. Both Preeces' have coached All-Americans at the NHSCA Senior Nationals becoming the only father-son duo in Utah wrestling history to do so. Preece's daughter, Deanna Meyer, was the head volleyball coach at Lone Peak High School in
Highland, Utah Highland is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is approximately south of Salt Lake City and is part of the Provo– Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census the population was 15,523, a 90.0% increase o ...
. In a 10-year stretch, Meyer won five state 5A volleyball titles, placed second four times with one other semi-final appearance. In 2015 Meyer left Lone Peak to coach a
Skyridge High School
in Lehi, Utah, where she won the 2018 5A state title.


Death

Preece suffered a stroke on April 15, 1997, and died 10 days later on April 25, 1997, in Salt Lake County, Utah.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preece, Dennis American wrestling coaches 1940 births 1997 deaths High school wrestling coaches in the United States People from Vernal, Utah Brigham Young University alumni American educators University of Northern Colorado alumni