Rob Koll, who won a national championship in 1988 for the Tar Heels, has been named the head coach of the UNC wrestling program. Koll is the seventh head coach in team history and has previously been the head coach at both Stanford and Cornell.
“There’s no school in the country that offers Carolina’s combination of academic and athletic dominance, along with the outstanding campus and community that Chapel Hill has to offer,” Koll said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. “I’m excited to get to work every day with our outstanding student-athletes, as we strive to achieve success in the ACC and on a national level.”
Koll was a four-time All-America with the Tar Heels from 1985-88 and graduated with a career record of 155-20-1, the most wins in both program and ACC history. Koll won three ACC championships.
After leaving Chapel Hill, Koll became an assistant coach at Cornell before taking over as head coach in 1993. With Koll at the helm, the Big Red won 20 Ivy League titles, produced 71 All-Americans and won 16 individual national championships. Ten of Koll’s final 12 seasons in Ithaca featured a Cornell wrestler winning a national title. The Big Red finished in the top 10 in the NCAA team competition 15 times under Koll. The last meeting between a Koll-coached Cornell side and the Tar Heels resulted in a 29-5 Big Red win in Carmichael Arena.
Koll joined Stanford as head coach in 2021, and in his short time with the Cardinal he coached three All-Americans and three Pac-12 champions.
“Rob is a proven winner both on the mat and as a coach, and he has an outstanding track record of recruiting great student-athletes dedicated to their sport, the classroom and the community,’’ said UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. “He is a strong leader who loves his alma mater and will be a terrific role model for students. Rob also will be a great ambassador for the program with fans, alumni and fellow coaches. We are happy to welcome him back to Carolina.”
The wrestling team’s head coaching position had been vacant since the resignation of Coleman Scott earlier in the month. Koll will be the fourth UNC head coach in his or her first season with the Tar Heels during the 2023-24 academic year, joining field hockey’s Erin Matson, volleyball’s Mike Schall and softball’s Megan Smith Lyon.
Featured image via FloWrestling/Tony Rotundo
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