Coach Tom Thomsen enters his twenty-seventh year as head coach of the Warriors. Prior to coming to Mission San Jose, he was the assistant coach at Chabot College for two years, assistant coach at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo for one year, and also served as the head Coach at Marina High School in San Leandro for one year.

In the past 26 years as head coach of the Warriors, he has coached three teams to the MVAL title (1986, 1987 & 1993). His teams have finished in the top ten in NCS 14 times, with the highest finishes coming in 1999 (2nd with 159 points), and 1995 (2nd with 132.5 points).  He has coached 77 MVAL champions, 16 NCS Champions, 6 CIF State medalists, and 2 CIF State Champions. Three of his wrestlers have also achieved All-American status: Mark Trice (1988), Keith Richards (1992) and Randy Katz (1999).

Coach Thomsen comes from a family of wrestlers. His grandfather and Uncle were professional wrestlers in the early 1940’s. They traveled throughout California in carnivals and sideshows. His grandfather was known as the "Masked Marvel" and his Uncle as "Kid Pineapple".  His father, Robert Thomsen, was the first wrestling coach at Chabot College in Hayward California from 1962-1969. To this day his father still holds the California State Junior College record for most consecutive dual meet wins by a coach (48). He also had two brothers who wrestled at Castro Valley High School.

Thomsen attended Castro Valley High School. He is a 3x HAAL Champion, a NCS Champion, and placed 5th in the CIF State Championships his senior year. He attended Chabot College where he was a NorCal Champion and also placed 5th in the Jr. College State Championships his sophomore year. He later attended Cal State Bakersfield for one year before returning to the Bay Area to play football at Cal State Hayward for three years.

He received his B.S. degree in Kinesiology and Physiology and earned his teaching credential from CSUH.  In 1997, he returned to CSUH where he received his Masters Degree in Kinesiology and Biomechanics. He currently is a full-time Physical Education Instructor and also serves as Athletic Director.

Coach Thomsen considers himself lucky to have had so many great mentors in his life who have contributed to his coaching and teaching career. They include his father, Bob Thomsen,  Zack Papachristos, (college coach), Rich Swift (college coach), Bill Bolar, (H.S. coach) and Don Hudson (CSUH coach and advisor).

 

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