The coaching staff he assembled is made up of Stryder's North Idaho College roommate and long-time friend, Jesse Davis (no relation), Stryder's brother, Keegan, brother-in-law and Montana State-Northern teammate Dale Seley, Stryder's father, Dan, and Rob Bronson, who coached Stryder and Keegan at Sprague.
They're all former college wrestlers who were successful on the mat.
"We're all either brothers or best friends or family," says Stryder, who wrestled at Sprague and formerly was an assistant at Oregon State and Sprague. "It makes your job fun. I do trust every single one of them with everything."
In Stryder's third year as head coach, the Saxons are making progress toward being competitive against the Central Valley Conference's top teams.
Teams such as Sprague and McNary place in the top 10 at the state tournament on a yearly basis.
Much of the challenge at South Salem is that other sports such as football, basketball and soccer are more closely identified with the school.
"It's not known (as) a wrestling school like McNary or like Sprague or even like McKay, that tradition they have," said Jesse Davis, who formerly spent five years on the staff at McNary.
To better develop the wrestlers before they get to high school, Stryder started Capitol Crew Wrestling, a club for children in eighth grade and under, last year.
The club already has grown to where some practices have 30 kids, and the club is what Seley and Dan Davis focus on.
"(Stryder and I) both have sons that are in the Capitol Crew wrestling program," said Seley, whose wife, Amber, is the twin of Stryder's wife, Kimmy.
"They're my nephew and his nephew. It's fun to watch them grow and learn what Stryder and I learned through this sport."
The hope is that by the time the kids reach high school they will be prepared to be successful.
"It's hard to make a state champion out of a kid who started when he was a junior," said Dan Davis, who wrestled at Boise State.
The tight-knit staff members have similar philosophies about what it takes to be a successful wrestler.
They preach that pushing the pace of the match is key and that each wrestler needs to believe he can win no matter the odds.
And if a South Salem wrestler wants to know what it takes to be a champion, he doesn't have to look far to see the faces of champions at multiple levels on their coaching staff.
"Sometimes I think I already know every single move out there, but sometimes they surprise me," says senior Jon Pena, who is ranked No. 8 in the state at 106. "They always bring new moves in. I don't think there's anything they don't know."
What many of the wrestlers speculate about is who among the coaching staff would win on the mat.
Dan Davis is the popular pick among the staff members.
"I would say in a wrestle- off against any other coaching staff we would crush," Stryder says.
