BURNABY, B.C. – Clete Hanson has been chosen to lead the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's wrestling program. He will officially take over on the men's side from Justin Abdou, who will remain the head coach of the SFU women's team.
 
"I'm immensely grateful to have the opportunity to lead this storied program and for the mentorship that Justin and Mike (Jones) have provided me over the years. I'm excited to bring the skills and knowledge I've acquired off the mat into our program and help position SFU Wrestling to meet the challenges and opportunities that face university and amateur athletics today. With renewed executive leadership and a bold strategic plan for Athletics in place, it's a great time to be a Red Leaf – Nous Sommes Prêts."
 
Hanson has served as the associate coach of Red Leafs wrestling, with the main focus being the men's team, for the last two seasons. His work as a rising coach has been consistently recognized by organizations across the continent.
 
Hanson was selected as the coach for Team Canada at the Under-20 Pan American Wrestling Championships next month in Peru.
 
The Canadian lineup will feature three SFU women's wrestlers, a pair of men's competitors and an incoming women's recruit. The group will include Tejvir Dhinsa (97 kilograms) and Khalin Radev (65 kg), two members of the Red Leafs men's team who won U-20 national titles at the 2025 Canadian Wrestling Championships.
 
Arad Ahangi (61 kg) and Joseph Breedlove (86 kg) earned silver medals at the national championships, while incoming recruit Gordon Gibson was third at 65 kg. Patrik Leder was the 74 kg silver medalist at the senior level.
 
Hanson recently earned scholarship to attend the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) CEO Leadership Academy, which is the premier education and networking event in collegiate wrestling.
 
"After 14 years as an assistant and associate coach with the wrestling programs – we are thrilled to announce Clete as our Interim Head Coach, Men's Wrestling," said Breanne Watson, SFU Associate Director, Athletics. Clete's passion for the program as an alumnus, and development over the years as a coach has been evident. We're excited to see what the future holds for the men's program with Clete in the head coach role."
 

Hanson has spent most of his adult life at SFU. He arrived on Burnaby Mountain after an outstanding high school career in Washington that included multiple All-America honours and a WIAA state championship at East Valley High School in the Spokane area.
 
Over his university career, he earned three NAIA All-America honours (2009, 2011, 2012), U SPORTS All-Canadian recognition in 2009 and helped SFU win its first two Canadian university team championships in 2009 and 2010. He hit the illustrious century mark, winning over 100 matches for the Red Leafs.
 
After graduating with a double major in Communications and Political Science, Hanson served as SFU's graduate assistant and assistant coach for three years. During this time, he also served as the BC Wrestling Women's High-Performance Coach in 2014.
 
After the conclusion of the 2014 season, Hanson stepped down from full-time coaching, continuing to serve as a volunteer coach for SFU, and began working as the Communications & Development Coordinator for Aunt Leah's Place, a Metro Vancouver-based nonprofit that assists youths transitioning from government care and one of Charity Intelligence's Top 10 Impact Charities. Along with serving as a grant writer, Hanson helped streamline the organization's marketing and donor outreach efforts, bringing in over $5,000,000 in donations and capital project funding from charitable foundations and government aid.
 
While at Aunt Leah's Place, Hanson completed his Master's degree in Urban Studies at SFU. He then moved back into wrestling, serving as the Interim Executive Director of BC Wrestling in 2019, helping to stabilize the organization and hire a successor who could champion the grassroots development of the sport in the province. Having served as a volunteer coach since 2014, Hanson rejoined SFU as an assistant coach in 2021.