Kris Davis helped build a new Las Vegas high school into a wrestling powerhouse before returning to Oregon to raise his family.

The next challenge for Davis will be restoring Marshfield’s wrestling program to an elite level.

Davis, who has spent this school year as a school counselor and assistant wrestling coach at Myrtle Point High School, was hired this week to coach the Pirates.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

Davis wrestled for his father at Redmond High School before playing baseball for Eastern Oregon University.

He then went to Las Vegas, where he became coach at brand new Palo Verde High School in 1997.

“We had a big program and a lot of success,” he said. “I want to have that same opportunity at Marshfield.”

The Pirates were one of the dominant programs in Oregon, especially in the Midwestern League, for several decades. The numbers declined the past few years, including last season, when Randy Messner was unable to continue coaching for personal reasons.

Davis said former Pirate coach Wayne Van Burger encouraged him to apply for the job.

“I want to get it back to what it was when Wayne was here,” Davis said. “I’m excited about capturing that tradition and making it important for the kids to be a part of.”

When Davis was in Nevada, he made some great contacts with coaches at the national level — he will be the floor manager at the upcoming Olympic Trials. But he and his wife, Sonya, felt Las Vegas wasn’t the best place to raise their four children.

Coos Bay, he said, is just the opposite.

“We want to stay for a while,” he said.

Marshfield athletic director Greg Mulkey said Davis’ background makes him ideal for the job.

“He has a real passion for wrestling and working with young kids and building a program,” Mulkey said.