Darlington’s wrestling team has produced multiple state champions and collegiate athletes throughout the decades. Darlington’s newest coach, Garvin Edwards, wants to continue this success.

Inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021, Edwards is a seasoned wrestling coach. His accomplishments include 22 individual state champions, 10 top-five state finishes as a team, and he has been the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Region Coach of the Year five times over his 34 years of coaching.

Born and raised in the Rome area, Edwards has stayed local throughout his career. He coached for 16 years at Armuchee High School and 14 years at Cartersville High School. 

Most recently, he coached for a few years in Alabama, but he returned home this year.

 “My philosophy that I have developed over the years is that wrestling is a team sport where individuals can excel,” Edwards said. “Wrestling is predominantly an individual sport, but your teammates are the ones working to help each other get better.”

Edwards wants to create a team where members work hard to make one another better so that everyone can succeed individually.

“Our biggest challenge right now is to improve the numbers,” Edwards said. “The first goal that I have whenever I come into a program is to recruit and grow the amount of wrestlers we have.”

In order to have a strong chance at success, the team needs to fill all of the weight classes as that has been its biggest disadvantage over the last few years. Edwards wants to fill these spots with people that will proportionally represent the student body.

“I started wrestling at a very young age, and the love and interest for the physical competition got me into coaching,” Edwards said. “I’ve coached three varsity sports and two middle school programs over the year, and it’s just the personal relationships that you build with the kids that I really enjoy the most.”