Wilson named new head coach of RedStorm bowling

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Admittedly, had it not been for an offer that appeared too good to pass up, Kyle Wilson would have never left his job as the head bowling coach at the University of Pikeville.
     But when the too good to pass up opportunity turned out to be a too good to be true situation, the University of Rio Grande became the beneficiary.
     Wilson was recently named as the head coach of the RedStorm's men's and women's bowling programs. He replaces Quincy Walker, who spent the 2025-26 school year in charge.
     The coaching staff also lost longtime assistant Phil Karl, who had been part of the program since its inception. He announced his retirement following the close of the 2025-26 season .
     Enter Wilson - who transformed UPike into one of the top programs in the NAIA - to fill the void.
     "I'm very excited to be at Rio Grande," Wilson said. "I was at Pikeville for 20 years and left for the chance to make more money and to work for one of my idols on the PBA Tour - Wayne Webb - but for various reasons, it just didn't work out. I found out that the coaching position here was coming open and I thought to myself, I'm good at coaching and I miss it so let's see if I can get back into it. And it happened. There's not too many programs in the country that I would've gone to. I loved Pikeville and the mountains and the rural setting. Rio Grande is similar to that in many ways."
     In his tenure at UPike, Wilson guided the Bears to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITCs) nine times, in addition to winning seven Mid-South Conference regular season titles and four MSC tournament championships. He was also named MSC Coach of the Year on five occasions.
     In 2024, Wilson's squad recorded a third-place finish in the NAIA national tournament and was fifth in the USBC ITCs.
     While at Pikeville, the Mount Vernon, Ohio native coached five USBC All-Americans, four NAIA All-Americans, two USBC National Rookies of the Year, one NAIA Rookie of the Year and one NAIA Player of the Year.
     "Hiring a coach of Kyle's caliber was a home run for us," said Rio Grande athletic director Brandon Bias. "He built - and led - a very successful program at UPike for a number of years and we believe his experience and leadership will be a tremendous asset to Rio. We already have a strong bowling program and I think that coach Wilson has what it takes to maintain the success we've had and raise the bar even higher. I'm extremely excited about the future of Rio bowling under his leadership."
     Wilson said he's familiar with a handful of bowlers on the Rio roster - both established and incoming - through the Junior Tournament Bowlers Association (JTBA), an organization he started at age 16, which offers top scratch tournament competition for better bowlers in the Midwest.
     Wilson served as its Executive Director until July 2005, when he turned over the organization to others in order to focus on his coaching duties at Pikeville.
     "One of the seniors this fall, Dominic Catanese, was one of our JTBA kids and 3-4 of the kids coming in were as well," said Wilson. "I'm excited to be here. I'm anxious to get started. Recruiting-wise, I really haven't gotten to do much because everything happened all of a sudden right before Memorial Day. This first year, I just want to maintain the program and then work on the recruiting to build it up. It may take 2-3 years to get it where I want it to be."
     One immediate change that Wilson will implement is in regard to practice schedules.
     Last season, Rio's teams practiced in Chillicothe three times a week, driving two hours roundtrip each time.
     "No, we're not driving six hours a week to practice. We're going back to Skyline in Gallipolis. They've got 24 string machines there," he said. "What would be nice would be to get our own facility, which is what we did in Pikeville. We bought an old Big Lots building and turned it into a 10-lane facility for us, while also housing the archery, golf and wrestling programs. I'd love to do that here someday."
     Another point of emphasis for Wilson will be accountability.
     "I was told that there were instances last year of people showing up for practice whenever they felt like it. That's not gonna work when you're trying to build a competitive program," said Wilson. "We're going to be disciplined and focus on the small things, the fundamentals. Once you establish a good foundation, then you can build on it."