Saved By Elvis: A Wrestling Coach's Journey

Saved By Elvis is the story of the unusual journey of a National Wrestling Hall of Fame coach who started out life on the wrong side of almost everything he attempted. Explore how this finalist for the National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year was a runaway at the age of eight, arrested twice before the age of twelve, stole a car at thirteen, was bullied in middle school, quit football on the first day, quit baseball after one day and quit wrestling after three weeks in the 9th grade. He chose to turn his life around through the discipline he learned in wrestling, becoming a seven-time letterman, three-sport athlete in high school, a collegiate wrestler, honored teacher and fifty-year acclaimed wrestling coach. This story is not just about wrestling, Read about Gary Bowden's exploits in college, the army, as a Jungle Cruise Skipper at Disneyland, husband, father, teacher and how he was the first responder to his high school's tragic shooting in 1998. Learn how he began a wrestling program in Southern California which won five CIF championships. Eventually, he moved to Oregon where he won the Big School State Championship. During his career, he was selected as the California Coach of the Year, as well as, the Oregon Coach of the Year. When questioned by his publisher with, "All this cannot have happened to one person?" Bowden responded, "But it did!" Read more