(October 26, 2026) Mena, Arkansas – UA Rich Mountain & Bucks Athletics is excited to announce the addition of Men's & Women's Wrestling to begin in the 2027-2028 academic year with the hiring of David Bossardet as the Head Men's & Women's Wrestling Coach. Coach Bossardet comes to Mena via Florida, where he has been a teacher, wrestling coach, school administrator, and coordinator of safety for Flagler County Schools.
Coach Bossardet's coaching career began after successful collegiate wrestling career at Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas and University of Nebraska-Kearney. After his collegiate career, he began coaching at Labette under NJCAA Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Joe Renfro, who is the current head coach of Region 2 foe Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami, OK. After four years, he returned home to Florida to Flagler County Schools to begin a career in high school education.
During Coach Bossardet's time coaching at Labette, he coached 3 NJCAA National Champions and 20 NJCAA All-Americans. The 2010 team at Labette were the NJCAA Men's National Runner-Ups. His high school career in Florida included coaching 4 high school state champions. His girls' teams were the 2024 FHSAA Girls Wrestling State Runner-Ups, while in 2025, Coach Bossardet's Flagler Palm Coast High School girls were the 2025 FHSAA State Champions. The team also were ranked as the #11 team in the country by USA Wrestling, Flo Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Coach Bossardet was named the 2025 Florida Dairy Farmers Girls Wrestling Coach of the Year and the NWCA Florida Girls Coach of the Year.
UARM Athletic Director Jerod McCormick has been very eager to announce the start-up of the new program. "We were as close as we could possibly be back in 2023 to start wrestling, but it was not the right time on campus. Now, we are full steam ahead with the addition of Coach Bossardet. David came highly recommended during the interview process, and it became very evident why during our conversations and campus visit. He brings a background of both collegiate and high school wrestling that will be beneficial in the start-up of both the men's and women's programs."
Chancellor Dr. Phillip Wilson added, "Coach Bossardet checks all the boxes of what we want at UARM to begin men's and women's wrestling. We are elated to have him joining our us at UA Rich Mountain and look forward to him leading our young men and women."
Coach Bossardet is married to Louise and looks forward to joining the Mena community and UARM. "I want to thank Dr. Phillip Wilson and Jerod McCormick for trusting me with this opportunity. They have extremely high expectations for this program, and that's how it should be. There is a lot of work to be done to meet those expectations, so I better get to it." – Coach Boss
Coach David Bossardet will officially hit the ground running in January 2027 to recruit for his programs that will begin in August. For more information about UARM Wrestling, email athletics@uarichmoutain.edu or reach out to Coach Boss at 386-846-2389.
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