By Bruce Rolfe
A long time wrestling coach who grew up in Battle Creek and has traveled around the country as a teacher and coach, is looking forward to a return to the area in a new role as a teacher at the Galesburg-Augusta Middle School and G-A’s head wrestling coach.
Sam Blyveis was named the Ram wrestling coach earlier this year, taking over the position Chris Champion held.
The last three years he has been an assistant coach at Fowlerville where two of those three years the Gladiators advanced to the state championships and in 2024-2025 Fowlerville were state runners up.
Prior to that he spent one year as an assistant wrestling coach at Gaylord, helping the Blue Devils to the state semifinals.
The previous three years he was an assistant coach with the Battle Creek Lakeview wrestling team.
Now that his children have graduated from high school, Blyveis felt he could devote the time needed to be a head coach again, so he applied for the G-A head coaching position when he learned there was an opening.
The new G-A head wrestling coach will be teaching 6th grade Social Studies, Geography, and Michigan History at the G-A Middle School.
“I’m super excited. The athletic director (Mike Woodard), superintendent (Dr. Lindsey Newton), middle school principal Amy Pratt, and the parents, whose kids I’ve worked with in the past at a small wrestling academy in Battle Creek I had, everybody has been so warm and welcoming. It’s pretty awesome to know that you’re coming into a place that wants you and values you before you’ve even got there. I’m excited to be going to a program that has a lot of potential,” said Blyveis, who said strong numbers in the youth programs at G-A shows there’s a lot of interest in the sport.
Blyveis said at all of his stops as a coach, he particularly pays attention to teams that are successful and what those wrestling programs are doing different then everybody else. He hopes to bring some of those successful practices into the G-A wrestling room.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got five or six schools in the State of Michigan, I’ve been back here since 2018, and over that time, you’ve got as many schools that are big and in the top 50 in the country on a regular basis. Schools like Lowell, Detroit Catholic Central, Dundee, Hartland, Brighton, Davison. And there’s a whole lot of good practices there to choose from,” said Blyveis.
He wants G-A wrestlers to establish a work ethic and mind set of wanting to be one of those stronger wrestling programs.
“They (G-A wrestlers) just need a collective vision. I’m really looking forward to putting my stamp on it so these kids can really reach their potential,” said Blyveis.
“It’s not going to happen the first year. You’ve got to lay down some tracks, you’ve got to build some foundation. I want to build a program the community can be proud of. My goal is for G-A to be a notable D-4 power house,” continued the new G-A coach.
There has to be buy in and motivation by student-athletes to enjoy success, but he also feels “it comes down to relationships.”
“As you start to build relationships, you start to build trust. As you start to build trust you start to see results,” said the new Ram wrestling coach.
Blyveis said there are 14 wrestlers he coached that are currently wrestling in college he has access to who could help bring a different perspective to the G-A wrestling room.
“I see a lot of room at G-A to make it fun, get them to the right kind of competition. Part of that vision is helping wrestlers know what good wrestling looks like,” adds Blyveis.
A 1992 graduate of Battle Creek Lakeview, Blyveis wrestled at Lakeview and went on to wrestle at Grand Valley State University before transferring to Olivet College when the wrestling program at GVSU was dropped.
Wrestling has been a big part of his direct family as well.
Both of his children are multiple time All-Staters and have won several freestyle and greco roman state championships. His son currently wrestles at Cleary University in Howell, MI.
He accepted a teaching and coaching position in Florida in 1997.
He moved to Tennessee as a teacher and head coach in the sport of wrestling. He spent an additional 20 years between Nevada and California in coaching and teaching positions before moving back to Battle Creek in 2018.
A long time wrestling coach who grew up in Battle Creek and has traveled around the country as a teacher and coach, is looking forward to a return to the area in a new role as a teacher at the Galesburg-Augusta Middle School and G-A’s head wrestling coach.
Sam Blyveis was named the Ram wrestling coach earlier this year, taking over the position Chris Champion held.
The last three years he has been an assistant coach at Fowlerville where two of those three years the Gladiators advanced to the state championships and in 2024-2025 Fowlerville were state runners up.
Prior to that he spent one year as an assistant wrestling coach at Gaylord, helping the Blue Devils to the state semifinals.
The previous three years he was an assistant coach with the Battle Creek Lakeview wrestling team.
Now that his children have graduated from high school, Blyveis felt he could devote the time needed to be a head coach again, so he applied for the G-A head coaching position when he learned there was an opening.
The new G-A head wrestling coach will be teaching 6th grade Social Studies, Geography, and Michigan History at the G-A Middle School.
“I’m super excited. The athletic director (Mike Woodard), superintendent (Dr. Lindsey Newton), middle school principal Amy Pratt, and the parents, whose kids I’ve worked with in the past at a small wrestling academy in Battle Creek I had, everybody has been so warm and welcoming. It’s pretty awesome to know that you’re coming into a place that wants you and values you before you’ve even got there. I’m excited to be going to a program that has a lot of potential,” said Blyveis, who said strong numbers in the youth programs at G-A shows there’s a lot of interest in the sport.
Blyveis said at all of his stops as a coach, he particularly pays attention to teams that are successful and what those wrestling programs are doing different then everybody else. He hopes to bring some of those successful practices into the G-A wrestling room.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got five or six schools in the State of Michigan, I’ve been back here since 2018, and over that time, you’ve got as many schools that are big and in the top 50 in the country on a regular basis. Schools like Lowell, Detroit Catholic Central, Dundee, Hartland, Brighton, Davison. And there’s a whole lot of good practices there to choose from,” said Blyveis.
He wants G-A wrestlers to establish a work ethic and mind set of wanting to be one of those stronger wrestling programs.
“They (G-A wrestlers) just need a collective vision. I’m really looking forward to putting my stamp on it so these kids can really reach their potential,” said Blyveis.
“It’s not going to happen the first year. You’ve got to lay down some tracks, you’ve got to build some foundation. I want to build a program the community can be proud of. My goal is for G-A to be a notable D-4 power house,” continued the new G-A coach.
There has to be buy in and motivation by student-athletes to enjoy success, but he also feels “it comes down to relationships.”
“As you start to build relationships, you start to build trust. As you start to build trust you start to see results,” said the new Ram wrestling coach.
Blyveis said there are 14 wrestlers he coached that are currently wrestling in college he has access to who could help bring a different perspective to the G-A wrestling room.
“I see a lot of room at G-A to make it fun, get them to the right kind of competition. Part of that vision is helping wrestlers know what good wrestling looks like,” adds Blyveis.
A 1992 graduate of Battle Creek Lakeview, Blyveis wrestled at Lakeview and went on to wrestle at Grand Valley State University before transferring to Olivet College when the wrestling program at GVSU was dropped.
Wrestling has been a big part of his direct family as well.
Both of his children are multiple time All-Staters and have won several freestyle and greco roman state championships. His son currently wrestles at Cleary University in Howell, MI.
He accepted a teaching and coaching position in Florida in 1997.
He moved to Tennessee as a teacher and head coach in the sport of wrestling. He spent an additional 20 years between Nevada and California in coaching and teaching positions before moving back to Battle Creek in 2018.
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