Return to Team Brute Shawn Charles Shawn Charles enters his first year as assistant coach at the University of Missouri with a wealth of wrestling knowledge. Having coached in four different conferences (Big 12, Western Athletic Conference, Ivy League and the Mid Atlantic Conference) and wrestled in another (Pac-10), Charles knows the competition from around the nation and is committed to helping lead Missouri to its first NCAA title. Over the past 13 seasons, Charles has coached 29 All-Americans and two National Champions. Of those 29 All-Americans 17 have graduated from a Big 12 wrestling program. A 1993 graduate of Arizona State, Charles wrestled under then-Head Coach Bobby Douglas, becoming the program's first four-time wrestling All-American (1990-1993). A 126-pound grappler, Charles earned runner-up honors at the NCAA Championships in 1992 and 1993, finishing fifth in 1990 and seventh in 1991. Upon his graduation, Charles left his name in the ASU history books as a two-time Pac-10 Champion and two-time East/West All Star participant. Charles received his degree in Computer Information Systems. Charles began his coaching career in 1993, following his former Head Coach, Douglas, to Iowa State. For two seasons, Charles served as an ISU assistant before returning to Arizona for a one year stint at Phoenix College (1995-96) while training with the Sunkist Kids Club to make the 1996 Olympic team. Charles was brought back to the Midwest in 1996 with the offer of a Freestyle coaching position at the University of Oklahoma. Working under Head Coach Jack Spates, Charles wore Sooner colors from 1996-97. Central Michigan called in 1997 and Charles made his way north to the MAC program, acting as head assistant through the 2001 season. While at CMU, the team had two top 10 finishes (fifth in 1998 and seventh in 1999) and its first NCAA Champion, Casey Cunningham (1999). Four years removed from his last appearance at a Big 12 school, Charles took the head assistant position at the University of Nebraska in 2001. While with the Cornhuskers, Charles helped train eight individuals to 13 All-America honors including NCAA Champion Jason Powell (2004) and runner up Bryan Snyder (2002). During his four seasons with the Huskers, Nebraska ranked as high as second in the nation (2003-04) and finished among the top 10 at the NCAA Championships on two occasions, 2002 and 2004. Charles took his first head coaching position in 2005 at Fresno State. The fifth head coach in Bulldog wrestling history, Charles had four grapplers qualify for the 2006 NCAA Championships in Detroit, Mich., including Western Regional Champion Greg Gifford. Gifford was forced out of the tournament after a loss to current Tiger, Raymond Jordan (184). The success of the Bulldog team was not enough to keep the program from being eliminated and in the summer of 2006, Charles took an assistant coaching position at Brown University. Now at his fourth Big 12 wrestling program, Charles assists in all aspects of the program with great emphasis placed on Missouri's middle weight classes, including NCAA qualifiers, Josh Wagner and Michael Chandler. Charles has had a great international career, winning many international tournaments and being part of the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Teams, plus coaching USA World Cup Teams in (2003 and 2007) Charles is married to the former Jill Hansen and has two sons, Shawn Charles, Jr. (six) and Titus "Tyty" Charles (four).