WATERLOO, Iowa - Waterloo East wrestling coach Willie Gadson has been diagnosed with stage four bone and lung cancer.

Gadson will begin treatments at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo today and is also working with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"I plan ... I intend on fighting it," said Gadson, the former two-time all-American at Iowa State who has been the head coach at East since June 2004.

"It is treatable. The bottom line is I've been diagnosed with bone and lung cancer.

"I still plan on coaching the Trojans next winter."

Gadson has coached 15 state qualifiers and 10 state placewinners at East. The veteran coached his son Kyven, now a redshirt freshman at Iowa State, to a pair of state championships.

Gadson's best team was in 2008 when the Trojans finished as co-champions of the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division. That team went on to finish 10th at the state tournament with 50 points with Kirk Sallis Jr., Kyven Gadson, Keelan Moore and Tray Pendleton all earning state medals.

Friends and colleagues can support Coach Gadson on a Facebook page created for him â€" The Battle for Coach Gadson.

Several fundraising efforts are in the works and updates on those can be found on the Facebook page, as well.

Read More HERE


About Kelly Ward:
Ward was an NCAA champion and three-time NCAA championship finalist for Iowa State. He placed second at the NCAA tournament in 1977, second in 1978, and first in 1979. His overall career college record was 126-10-2.


The Battle for Coach Gadson FACEBOOK PAGE