Entering 2026-27 season
Clete Hanson was named the head coach of the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men's wrestling program on a permanent basis in June 2026, after serving in an interim capacity during the 2025-26 season.
"I'm grateful to be in a position to build on this storied program and am focused on finding ways to elevate our operations across the board," Hanson said.
"This past year, we saw a lot of growth from our young core and our staff have added to it, by putting together a strong recruiting class that includes multiple Canadian national champions. We look forward to the challenges and opportunities this next season and future brings."
The SFU men's program hit some major milestones during the 2025-26 season, with the opening of a renovated high-performance wrestling room and the establishment of community recreational programs, such as Jr. Red Leafs, Adult Wrestling and Summer Camps.
Three SFU wrestlers – Joseph Breedlove, Owen Gudmundson, and Caius Harbridge – were named National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-Americans in 2025-26, and four Canadian national champions will be joining the Red Leafs next season.
Hanson was the associate coach of SFU Wrestling from 2023 to 2025, with his work concentrated on the men's team.
In July 2025, Hanson coached Team Canada at the Under-20 Pan American Wrestling Championships in Lima, Peru. The men's freestyle roster featured two Red Leafs – Tejvir Dhinsa and Khalin Radev – and placed second in the team standings, as did the women's squad, which had four SFU competitors.
Also in 2025, Hanson merited a scholarship to attend the NWCA CEO Leadership Academy, the premier education and networking event in collegiate wrestling.
"In his time as interim head coach, Clete has put many building blocks in place to increase the success and sustainability of SFU Men's Wrestling," said Breanne Watson, SFU Director, Athletics & Business Operations. "We're excited to see Clete continue this work with passion as he develops as a coach and program builder."
After winning multiple high school All-America honours and a Washington state title at East Valley High School in the Spokane area, Hanson made impact on both sides of the border as a student-athlete at SFU.
He was a three-time All-American (2009, 2011 and 2012) in the NAIA, placing eighth at 184 pounds in 2009, seventh in 2011 and fourth in 2012. Hanson was a U SPORTS silver medalist, All-Canadian and Canada West conference champion at 82 kilograms in 2009, helping SFU win its first Canadian university team title. The team repeated as national champions the next year.
Over his university career, he won over 100 matches for the Red Leafs.
Hanson has Bachelor of Arts (Communications and Political Science) and Master's (Urban Studies) degrees from SFU. He was a graduate assistant and assistant coach for three years after the completion of his BA, and was also the BC Wrestling Women's High-Performance Coach in 2014.
Hanson moved into a volunteer coaching role after the 2013-14 wrestling campaign in order to work as the Communications & Development Coordinator for Aunt Leah's Place, a nonprofit organization helps youth moving out of government care.
In 2019, he joined BC Wrestling as its Interim Executive Director.
Hanson was named an assistant coach with SFU in 2021, after volunteering with the team since 2014.
