𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐞 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 | 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 | 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐖𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫
Roye Oliver had a Hall of Fame career as an athlete & coach, plus was influential at the start of women’s wrestling during the World Championships with Team USA in the early 1990’s. This interview and write-up explore what is possible when opportunity is ceased…

National Wrestling Hall of Fame | Roye Oliver
Growing up in Nebraska, Oliver was 105-4 and was a National Junior Olympic champion in his home state and won a state championship at Technical High in Omaha.

He was inducted into the Nebraska Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1981.

A four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time All-American, he was inducted into the Arizona State University Hall of Fame in 1982.

A 150-pounder, he was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Team in 1984. Oliver was wrestling coach at Palomar College from 1986-92. His 1988 Comets team won a state championship and he was named Community College Coach of the Year.

He was on the coaching staff for the 1996 Olympics and was an assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha from 1998-2003.

He returned to California and was head coach at Fallbrook High from 2003-08.

From Fallbrook, Oliver spent two years as an assistant coach at Cal Baptist University before joining the Army-Navy staff in 2010.

In 2017, he was named San Diego Section Coach of the Year after the Warriors had their first two state qualifiers with the school’s first state placer.

The accomplishment he’s most proud of, though, came in 2007 when he won the gold medal at the Veterans Freestyle World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Life Pacific University | Roye Oliver
Roye started his Wrestling career in 1964 at the North Omaha Boys Club. 

Arizona State University’s first 3-time AA. He won two Western Athletic Conference titles at 150 pounds in 1976 and 1977, helping ASU to just their second team championship in program history. His collegiate record was 81-21-1, and he was inducted into the ASU Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Roye was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in 1984.  

[H]e also served as a USA Wrestling National Developmental Coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs from 1993-1998.

He started a youth wrestling program at the Escondido Boys’ and Girls’ Club, enhancing the number from 12 to 85 wrestlers. Many of the wrestlers excelled in high school, including 3 CIF State Champions and 8 State Placers among 12 State Qualifiers.

American Women’s Wrestling | Roye Oliver
Roye Oliver was the first African-American to coach Team USA women’s wrestling at the World Championships and did so from 1993-1997. 

During that time period, he helped coach 1 World Champion & 8 women’s World Championships medalists. Oliver coached Treeva Cohee & D’Anya Bierria at the 1994 World Championships for Team USA at 50 kg & 65kg respectively. 

Cohee & Bierria placed 4th at Worlds in 1994 making them the first pair of African-American women wrestlers to place at Worlds in the same year.

Oliver also coached the Life Pacific women’s wrestling team from 2020-2022 and was the first African-American head coach to do so.

Sandy (Bacher) Fakaosi
Sandy Bacher was a member of the US Women’s first and only Sr. World Team Champions in 1999. Sandy’s Olympic accolades also include: 2000 Judo Olympian, 1996 Judo Olympian, 1992 Judo Olympian, 1999 World Wrestling Champion, 1997 World Wrestling Championships Silver Medal, &1998 World Wrestling Championships Bronze Medal.

Roye Oliver….. So difficult to put into words all the things he’s done for me, and for the sport of wrestling.

To put it simply, Roye supported women’s wrestling when it wasn’t trendy to do so. I’m sure he may have been teased and taunted, ridiculed for working with us. However, he never let on. He traveled the world with us as coach, manager and friend. He was there when we lost and when we won. He was there when we got injured and when we celebrated. Roye definitely played a huge part in the development of women’s wrestling.

Not only did he help the women who were wrestling to succeed. Living in Colorado Springs, surrounded by athletes, he recruited from the ranks of other sports. I was a judoka. A grappler but not a wrestler. I wore a judo gi and no shoes.

He reached out to me. “Come-on girl, try it.” He had already recruited one of my judo friends and I decided to give it a try. He gave me a pair of wrestling shoes with maybe a stitch or two loose. “I can’t give these to anyone on the national team, here try them out.” I went to practice in the Springs, bought two singlets and a USA wrestling card. Stopped in Phoenix for the Sunkist Cup on my way back to San Jose from competition in the US Open (our international tournament) in Colorado Springs. I told Roye, ok, I’ll try it once, just once. I was hooked, and I never would have been there without Roye’s encouragement.

The top placing US woman at each weight were invited to compete in Europe; Sweden maybe (I don’t recall)? Now, Roye was asking me if I’d be on the team. There weren’t many of us. We had different backgrounds. Some had wrestled for years. I was a newcomer from a different sport. Roye always made me feel like I belonged and was wanted there. At 70 kg, I was one of the bigger women on the team. Roye, with his stiff neck, worked out with me and helped me out. Yelling “high crotch” or “single” from the side, I was often confused. “What’s the difference, you grab one leg!” He didn’t make me feel stupid. Continued to encourage. I didn’t have the typical upbringing in the sport. No one taught me from the ground up. Roye was patient. He took the time to work with me. Roye was able to take what I already had from my judo background and build me into a wrestler.

I will always be grateful to Roye. His ability to encourage us, support us and make us feel like we belonged on the mat were like no other. Many women speak about how hard they had to fight to be allowed in the wrestling room. It was a bit different for me, Roye welcomed me into the room.

I absolutely love Roye Oliver. He helped make me into the person I am today. Luckily, my daughter and son started wrestling and brought me back to the sport (I retired when I was pregnant with my daughter). The opportunities for girls and women in the sport are here now, not only because of the women who broke down barriers, but also because of the men who were by our sides fighting with us and in some cases welcoming us in.

I have gotten back involved in wrestling in the Bay Area (Northern California). The opportunities I have to work with and support the girls and boys, young women and men, in the area are here in part because of Roye. I feel so much joy supporting the kids (not going to lie though, I have a soft spot for the girls) in the area with their wrestling goals. Super proud that our state association dual team had 5 of 18 girls that were seniors and ALL 5 are going to be wrestling in college. I tell them, “come on, you can do it.” I encourage them and push them. I support them. Roye, not only an awesome coach and manager, but an awesome role model. I only hope that I can impact the wrestlers in the area as Roye impacted me.