Gresham High wrestling phenom Dan Russell finds his special calling serving his community and his family.
By David Ball


It is how he learned to wrestle his way to four NCAA national championships. It is how he pursued his wife of 20 years. It is how he handles his job as a lead pastor in Battle Ground, Wash.

His heart was shaped early in childhood, spending his elementary years getting trounced at every practice as a member of a premier wrestling club. Stepping onto the mat wasn’t so much about beating his opponent, as it was a battle to stay off his back
“My first three years I couldn’t score on anybody,” Dan says. “It was an elite group, and I had guys that wanted to run me out of the club. Finally, I realized ‘I’m still here. I’m still fighting,’ and it flipped a switch.

The wins started coming, and they never stopped. He went unbeaten through his prep career at Gresham High – a rare four-time state champion.

But it wasn’t what he did on the wrestling mat that made him popular on campus. Instead, it was what he chose to do each morning outside on the steps leading to the front doors.

“I had a difficult freshman year. I had won a state title, but I felt like a misfit. I had no friends. I was very lonely,” Dan says. “I was sitting under a tree one day, and I heard God say ‘Dan, I love you.’ After that I decided to shake hands with everyone to welcome them to school. I didn’t want anyone to feel alone.”

Russell went on to a stellar career at Portland State University where he was a four-time NCAA Division II national champion. After graduating he trained with the U.S. National team in Colorado Springs, attaining the world’s top ranking in his weight class during one stretch.

Despite all the honors he found himself empty.

“I remember coming back from Nationals and being surrounded by reporters. It was a great homecoming,” Dan says. “But the interviews kept going, my teammates went home and I was left taking a taxi by myself. I got home, set out all my trophies and asked what now? I wanted to be part of something that was going to last longer than my trophies.”

The answer came in ministry.

He spent 17 years as the youth pastor at East Hill in Gresham, opening his home to a dozen college students, while moving his family into the detached garage.

“It was ‘How do we walk with Jesus and with each other 24-7?’,” Dan says. “We’ll take care of the practical needs, and trust God to do the spiritual.”

Five years ago, Dan was searching for God’s next adventure in his life. There were offers to coach with USA Wrestling and another to oversee East Hill’s missionary work. Then there was this tiny Foursquare Church in Battle Ground. Not more than 30 people meeting in an elementary school gym.

“I walked into a blessing that you wouldn’t see on paper,” Dan says. “I could sense God smiling on this one.”

While the church continues to call an elementary school home on Sundays, Dan’s real work is done throughout the week serving his town.

“I didn’t come here to pastor a church, I came here to love a community – that’s not a bad thing to give your life to,” he says.

He has also given his life to his family – his wife is Joy Lammert – a Gresham High grad who helped Portland State to a national volleyball title her rookie season on the Park Blocks.

Dan first noticed her in college. Being largely a commuter campus, the athletes were a close-knit group at Portland State.

“I told all my buddies that number 3 on the volleyball team was off-limits. I was going to date her,” Dan says.

He gave himself three months to find a way to get her number. The deadline came and all Russell was getting was grief from his teammates.

Never slow to make a move on the wrestling mat, Dan was dragging his feet when it came to asking for a date.

Finally, a moment presented itself. Joy invited Dan and his wrestling teammates over for a party to celebrate the end of the first semester. But somehow when she opened the door, it was only Dan standing on the other side.

“He ends up coming over himself – no teammates,” Joy says. “But he was easy to talk to, and we stayed up until 3 a.m.”

Good conversation, but no romance – yet.

Dan had an obstacle bigger than simply asking for a phone number.

“I was engaged, so nothing was brewing at that time,” Joy says. “He had an uphill battle.”

But Dan knew what he wanted in his heart – he wanted Joy
“I think she was created for me,” Dan says. “I asked her out every day for six months, and she said no every time.”

Meanwhile, Joy was wrestling with something herself – being engaged to a military man and the constant travel that goes with that life.

“I had to work all of that out before I could entertain the idea of something new,” Joy says. “My heart was pretty weak, and I had no intention of getting into another relationship.”

Finally, Dan got a ‘yes’ – kind of.

The two agreed to see a production of “The Whiz” together, although Joy made it clear from the start that she would buy her own ticket and that it was not a date.

Dan heard ‘yes’ and not much else.

He arrived in sharp clothes and brought her a ceramic drama mask with their names engraved on the inside.

“He showed up all dressed nice and made it clear that he was treating this as a date, so I went along with it,” Joy says. “It became clear early on for me that this was a divine set up.”

Six months later, the two were married.

Last fall they celebrated their 20th anniversary. The couple has four children Ryan, Sarah, Dani and Hannah.

“He makes the most of every opportunity,” Joy says. “I’ve been able to enjoy some pretty amazing adventures with him – he has this ability to just keep pressing into things.”


• Russell coached Team USA for the 2004 Olympic Games

Despite being top-ranked in his weight class after graduating college, a string of injury-prone years forced Dan to settle for a spot as an alternate on the 1992 and ’96 U.S. Olympic teams. He was added to the Team USA coaching staff after retiring from competition following the 1996 season.

At 45-years-old, he continues to tour the country putting on camps from Texas to Michigan with the occasional trip overseas.

“I feel my body getting older, but it’s always been my style to give it all that I have,” Dan says. “I’ll find days where I can’t walk after putting on a clinic.”

The highlight of his coaching career came in 2004 when he was named head coach for the U.S. Olympic team for the Games in Athens.

“It was amazing to be where the Olympics were birthed,” Dan says.

During his own wrestling days, Dan had learned to enjoy the battle on the mat. Win or lose, he had done his job if he left a full effort in the center circle.

As head coach, he pounded that point home each Thursday when he would square off world-class wrestlers against each other.

Two hours, nonstop.

No time to fix a loose shoestring or adjust a sweaty T-shirt. The goal was to make the other guy throw in the towel.

“You put two of the best guys in the world up against each other,” Russell says. “I’ve seen gold medalists leave the room crying because they got broken. Jesus told us life here would have difficulties, and it is in those difficult times that you are molded into the person you are.”

That year’s team came away with six medals, led by the popular Cael Sanderson winning gold in the 84-kilo weight class.

But for Dan his most memorable moments didn’t involve victories, they involved people.

“I made a point of eating a meal with different athletes in the village each day. One of the greatest things about the Olympics is sitting across from someone who may be the fastest person in the world or the toughest person in the world, and they are right there in front of you.”

His brother Joe, the head wrestling coach at George Mason, joined him in Athens and the siblings got the chance to meet childhood heroes John and Ben Peterson – another set of wrestling brothers who medaled in the 1972 and ’76 Games.

But the moment that hit Dan the hardest came near the finish line for the women’s marathon – the kick-off event for the Games.

He remembers watching on the video screen as the lead runners approached the stadium where they would take one final lap before hitting the tape. Race favorite Paula Radcliffe was the first to appear, but before she reached the stadium entrance, she stopped and ended her race exhausted.

“I watched her sit down on the curb outside the stadium, and I teared up,” Dan says. “I knew what it was like to invest a lifetime to get to that Olympic dream and to have it fall short.”