Ralph Valle
Ralph Valle

Bio

 

East Los Angeles College Wrestling has been under the direction of Head Coach and national wrestling Hall-of-Famer Ralph Valle for the past 25 years. During his leadership, the program has earned three top-10 finishes in the State Tournament, four conference runner-up finishes, and a third-place finish in the Southern California Regional Tournament. Coach Valle has also coached 43 individual State place winners, including two State Champions, six state runner-ups, 22 All-Americans and six Academic All-Americans.

Coach Valle began his career as an ELAC two-sport student-athlete: he was wrestling team captain who qualified for the state championship, and was a member of the 1974 undefeated State Championship football team. He would initially transfer onto California State University Fullerton (DIV I), and after that spent his senior year wrestling for California University Los Angeles (DIV II) where he earned MVP Honors and was Team Captain with a NCAA Qualifier. In addition to his collegiate accolades, Valle also was also a USWF State Champion, an AAU/Southern Pacific Association Grand Champion, and a third-place finisher at the USA California State Open.

Before reconnecting at ELAC professionally, Valle was a high school head coach for 15 years. His record includes 221 dual-meet victories, 10 League Championships, four CIF Dual Team Titles, three CIF Tournament Titles, three CIF runner-up finishes, and two top-20 State Finals’ finishes.

In 2007, Coach Valle was named Southern California Coach of the Year. And in 2014, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for Lifetime Service to Wrestling.

Coach Valle earned an Associate of Arts Degree from ELAC, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Physical Education from CSU Los Angeles, and a Master of Science Degree in School Counseling from the University of La Verne. In addition to his coaching, Valle also has been a dedicated academic counselor at both the high school and community college level. He is currently a tenured Counselor at East Los Angeles College.

Coach Valle is married (almost 30 years and counting!) to Bonnie Valle. They have two daughters: Christina (UCI graduate), and Corina (CSUF grad).