Chris attended Defiance High School where he participated in football and baseball for four years and basketball and powerlifting for two years before graduating in 1985. 

In baseball, Chris was a member of Greg Inselmann's WBL championship teams his sophomore and junior years. He played first base earning all-WBL honors as a senior and was slected to play in the WBL All-Star Game.

A participant in the state powerlifting meet while at Defiance, Chris was a standout football player as an offensive lineman, linebacker and place kicker. He earned all-WBL accolades at linebacker his junior year and on the offensive line as a senior where he was also all-district playing for head coach Barry Parsons' team that finished 7-3, just missing the playoffs. His senior year highlight was kicking the game-winning extra point to beat St. Marys and deny Skip Baughman his 200th coaching victory.

His proudest accomplishment that year was receibing the Joe Tubbs Award and the Citizenship Award. After graduation, Chris attended Bluffton College where he lettered four years and started at offensive guard for three years. He was first-team all-district his junior and senior years and an All-American offensive lineman nominee after his senior season. 

The 6-1 250-pounder (at the time) helped the Beavers to an 8-1 record and their first National playoff berth as a sophomore and a 9-0 mark and another playoff berth as a junior. That year Bluffton reached the National quarterfinals before losing to eventual National Champion Westminster College. During his playing days at Bluffton under the guidance of head coach Carlin Carpenter, the teams Dales played on had a combined regular-season record of 29-7 while playing in three playoff games. Chris graduated from Bluffton with a degree in Education in 1990 and began his coaching and teaching career. His first coaching job was an assistant line coach for Bluffton College before becoming head baseball coach at Pandora-Gilboa where he also served as JV girls basketball coach. In,1992 Chris came back to Defiance as a Physical Education & Health teacher in the Defiance City School System and coached varsity football and varsity track as well as junior high boys and girls basketball.

 

In 2000, Chris obtained his Master's Degree in School Administration from Bowling Green State University. He spent two years as assistant principal at Defiance High School while also coaching offensive line and defensive line under the direction of Jerry Buti, helping the Bulldogs to multiple league titles, playoff berths and the state title in 1997.

In 2004, Chris became head coach at Ayersivlle High School and held the position for 13 years, winning two Green Meadows Conference championship with five playoff berths, two regional finals and one trip to the regional semifinals. He was twice named Northwest District Coach of the Year and Crescent-News Coach of the Year and also selected to coach in the Ohio High School North-South All-Star Game two times. He is presently teaching PE & Health at a Ayersivlle High School. Chris, who has also helped coach high school and junior high track, is currently a varsity football assistant coach, varsity softabll assistant coach and JV boys basketball coach.

Chris and his wife Shellie (Neff) have three children, Dauson (sophomore at Ohio Dominican), Kryshel (junior at Ayersville) and Hayden (frehsman at Ayersivlle).