Cornell University Men's Wrestling

Grey's sixh season as a member of the coaching staff. In his first five seasons, Cornell has posted a 61-13 dual meet record with five Ivy League and EIWA team crowns and top 10 NCAA team finishes each year. Big Red athletes have won seven NCAA titles, 19 All-America honors, 19  EIWA titles and 24 first-team All-Ivy honors. Grey has been instrumental in working with the young lineup of lightweights, including four-time All-American and 2016 NCAA champion Nahshon Garrett, among others. Grey helped the team to second-place finishes at the 2010 and 2011 NCAA championships as a student-athlete, the highest finishes in program history. Grey finished an impressive collegiate career with a 117-30 record and sits third on the Big Red leader board for most major decisions. A four-time NCAA qualifier, he was named the 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the 2008 Rev Wrestling Freshman of the Year. Grey was also a four-time All-Ivy first team selection, as well as a two-time EIWA champion. He placed sixth at the NCAA tournament in both his rookie season and his senior season, earning him All-American status twice. Grey was honored with the Andy Noel Leadership Award during his junior campaign and in his senior season he served as the team captain. Following his senior year, Grey was honored with the Eric LaFrance Tough Guy Award for the wrestler showing impressive strength through adversity. Prior to Cornell, Grey was a highly decorated high school wrestler and the first four-time state champion out of New Jersey. Grey graduated with a degree in Development Sociology and currently resides in Ithaca. His brother, Mark, is a member of the Big Red wrestling team.Mike Grey

Hahn Associate Head Coach Damion Hahn, a former two-time NCAA champion at Minnesota, is in his 11th season with the Cornell staff as an assistant with the middle and heavyweight wrestlers. He was promoted to Associate Head Coach during the 2013-14 season. While at Cornell, Hahn has helped the Big Red 11 NCAA individual titles, 40 All-America honors, 35 individual EIWA champions and 53 first-team All-Ivy selections. Hahn has tutored many of the nation's top wrestlers, working with national champions like Steve Bosak, Cam Simaz and Gabe Dean. The Big Red has won Ivy League and EIWA titles in every season with Hahn on the sidelines and has posted nine top 10 NCAA finishes in his first 10 years. Hahn wrapped up his Golden Gopher career ranking 12th all-time in career victories with a 118-21 record, which included a 33-1 mark during his senior season in 2003-04. Hahn became the third wrestler in school history to capture two NCAA titles when he won back-to-back crowns in 2003 and 2004. He became just the fourth four-time All-American at Minnesota, as well as the fifth three-time Big Ten champion in school history. He received the 2004 Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year award, given to the top male athlete in the Big Ten conference. A 2004 graduate of Minnesota with a degree in education and youth studies, Hahn ended his freestyle wrestling career with a second place finish at the Olympic Team Trials in 2008. Hahn, his wife, Terry, and their two sons, Miles and Luka, reside in Dryden.  *Updated June 2016

Vinson spent the 2013-14 season as a graduate assistant at Binghamton under head coach Matt Dernlan. He helped develop a pair of NCAA qualifiers, including EIWA runner-up Cody Reed at 197 pounds. He would later become just the second Bearcat wrestler in program history to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals. Binghamton had five place winners and tied for seventh in the schools debut at the EIWA Championship. Vinson is the schools career wins leader at Binghamton with a 132-27 record and was a two-time Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Year. The 2012 All-American at 149 pounds was named the CAA Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler as a senior and claimed the athletic departments Athlete of the Year award. He was also chosen to receive the John Bilos Alumni Award, given to the top senior male for outstanding career performances as a Bearcat.Donnie Vinson

Koll, himself a former NCAA champion, has led the Big Red program to unprecedented heights on the national stage. Under Kolls direction, the Big Red has captured 17 Ivy League titles, crowned 14 NCAA champions and achieved 59 All-Americans and 55 individual EIWA champions.  The Big Red has had at least one individual NCAA champion in eight of the last nine years. He is the schools career leader in wins, posting a 267-87-5 (.751) career record, including 95-20-1 (.823) over the last eight years. He surpassed Jimmy Millers mark of 203 dual meet victories in 2011 when Cornell blanked Princeton 44-0. Over the last 12 years in particular, Cornell has shown without question that it is one of the nations elite squads with 48 All-Americans, 12 national champions, eight top five team finishes at the NCAAs and 10 straight EIWA titles. In addition, the Big Red has won 14 consecutive Ivy crowns and enters the season having won 73 straight Ivy matches. Koll has sent at least one wrestler to the NCAA championships in each of his 22 seasons, including sending a school-record nine wrestlers to the national meet in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016. The Big Red crowned a pair of NCAA champions (Nahshon Garrett at 133, Gabe Dean at 184), claimed its 10th straight EIWA title, its 14th consecutive Ancient Eight trophy and placed seventh as a team at the NCAA championships. The Big Red also extended its streak of New York State titles to four as well. Junior Dylan Palacio earned his first All-America honor with a fourth-place finish at 157 pounds. Garrett was the Ivy League Wrestler of the Year and freshman Joey Galasso was unanimously selected as the conference's top rookie. For the second straight season, the Big Red qualified nine for the NCAA championships and had six wrestlers reach the finals of the EIWA Tournament, winning four title. In addition, Garrett and Kyle Dake competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials, with Dake finishing as runner-up. Cornell's 2015 season was the latest in a long line of dominant campaigns. Gabe Dean won a national title at 184 pounds to lead four All-Americans as the Big Red finished fifth at the NCAA Championships. Brian Realbuto was the runner-up at 157, while Nahshon Garrett was fifth at 125 and Chris Villalonga was sixth at 149. The Big Red went 17-2 in dual meets, won its record 13th-straight Ivy League crown and ninth consecutive EIWA championship, posted a third straight New York State Intercollegiate tournament win, as well as earning a third-place finish at the 2015 NWCA National Duals, top six finishes at both the Las Vegas Invitational and Southern Scuffle and unblemished dual records at the Grapple at the Garden and the Journeymen Northeast Duals. The program's 17 dual meet wins were the most by a Big Red team in 22 years and the third-most ever. Cornell qualified nine for the NCAA meet, tying a school record, and crowned five individual EIWA champions. After winning both the Ivy League and EIWA titles in 2014, Cornell placed seventh at the NCAA championships with three earning All-America accolades. Nahshon Garrett, the Ivy League and EIWA Wrestler of the Year, finished as the national runner-up at 125 pounds and Gabe Dean, the the Ivy League and EIWA Rookie of the Year, placed third at 184. Both won EIWA titles, as did Chris Villalonga (149 pounds) and Jace Bennett (197 pounds), while freshman Brian Realbuto claimed six place and All-America honors at 157. The Big Red went 13-1 in dual meets, including a run to the finals of the NWCA National Duals tournament. In 2013, Kyle Dake became the face of collegiate wrestling by becoming the first to win national titles at four different weight classes and the first to win four titles without a redshirt season. The Hodge Award winner as collegiate wrestler of the year and the inaugural Sports Illustrated Male College Athlete of the Year, Dake was named the EIWA and Ivy League Wrestler of the Year and went unbeaten at 165 pounds, including knocking off the reigning champion at the weight class and 2012 Hodge Award winner David Taylor of Penn State. The Big Red again won the EIWA title (seventh straight year) and the Ivy title (11th consecutive season). Senior Steve Bosak (third at 184 pounds), freshman Nahshon Garrett (third at 125 pounds) and junior Mike Nevinger (fifth at 141 pounds) also earned All-America status. The Big Red went 14-4 on the year in dual meets and produced three individual EIWA champions in Bosak, Dake and Garrett. Dake also won the Fletcher Award for earning the most team points in his career (82.5) and the Sheridan Award for having the most pins (two) in the championship bracket in just 3:06 of wrestling time. The 2011-12 season saw three Big Red wrestlers earn individual national titles in the same season for the first time in program history, as Kyle Dake (157), Steve Bosak (184) and Cam Simaz (197) all earned NCAA crowns as the team finished fourth overall. In addition, Frank Perelli placed fourth at 125 and Mike Nevinger was seventh at 141 to round out the Big Red's five All-Americans. Cornell was 11-1 in dual matches and again went 5-0 in Ivy competition while winning its sixth consecutive EIWA title. The Big Red crowned three individual EIWA champions and matched a program record with nine NCAA qualifiers. The 2010-2011 campaign was a stellar one under Kolls tutelage. The Big Red placed second at the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, with school records for points (93.5) and All-Americans (five). Cornell became the first team outside of the Big 10 or Big 12 to ever win the National Duals title and captured the EIWA championship for the fifth consecutive time, with four individual champions: Frank Perrelli (125), Mike Grey (133), Mack Lewnes (174) and Cam Simaz (197).  The Big Red added first place trophies at the Las Vegas Invitational, the Southern Scuffle and the Body Bar Invitational. Koll also coached Kyle Dake to his second NCAA title, marking the fourth year in a row that a Big Red wrestler captured an NCAA crown. Joining Dake as All-Americans were Grey, Lewnes, Simaz and Steve Bosak (184). For his efforts, Koll was named EIWA Coach of the Year.  Dake was the co-EIWA Wrestler of the Year while Simaz was the Ivy League Wrestler of the Year. The 2009-2010 season was also a very successful one, including an NCAA runner up finish and an EIWA crown. The Big Red had four All-Americans (Troy Nickerson (125), Dake, Lewnes and Simaz), who all were EIWA champions as well. Grey also captured an EIWA title. Koll was named EIWA Coach of the Year and Intermats NCAA Coach of the Year. Dake earned Freshman of the Year honors in the EIWA and Ivy League and was named the nations best rookie by Amateur Wrestling News and Intermat. Lewnes was the Ivy League Wrestler of the Year for the second season in a row. In the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons, Koll led the Big Red to a ninth and fifth-place NCAA team finish, respectively. He coached Nickerson to a national title at 125 pounds in 2009, after helping Jordan Leen to the crown at 157 pounds in 2008. In 2008-2009, the Big Red earned four All-America honors. At the end of the season, Nickerson was named EIWA Wrestler of the Year, while Simaz brought home EIWA Freshman of the Year honors. Cornell won its third-straight EIWA team championship, and, with seven wrestlers in the finals, saw Nickerson, Leen, Lewnes and Simaz win individual titles. In 2007-2008, Cornell crowned four All-Americans as well. The Big Red placed all 10 of its wrestlers in the top six at the EIWAs, and as a rookie, Lewnes won the title at 165 pounds. In 2006-07, Koll guided Cornell to its first EIWA team championship since 1993, and crowned two individual champions. Cornell qualified eight wrestlers for the NCAA tournament and placed 12th as a team. Prior to that, Koll led the Big Red to back-to-back top-five finishes at the national championships, leading Cornell to a fourth-place showing in 2004-05 and a fifth-place effort in the 2005-06 season. Koll was named the 2005 NWCA Division I Coach of the Year. He was awarded the prestigious Dan Gable Coach of the Year award that same season. Koll was also instrumental in the development of two-time NCAA champion Travis Lee, who capped his career with his second national championship as a senior in 2005. Additionally, he has been named the New York State Coach of the Year four times during his career at Cornell. Kolls first season as head coach in 1993-94 showed signs of things to come, as he guided David Hirsch to the national championship at 126 pounds. Hirsch was Cornells first national champion in 34 years, claiming the first title since Dave Auble won at 123 pounds in 1960. Koll came to Cornell as an assistant coach under Jack Spates prior to the 1989-90 season. While an assistant coach under Spates, the Big Red claimed four Ivy League titles, a pair of EIWA crowns and sent 18 wrestlers to the national championships. Cornell finished 10th in 1992-93, Spates final season on the East Hill. In addition to serving as a member of the Cornell coaching staff, Koll has also been the coordinator of the Cornell wrestling camp and has served as a member of the physical education staff. Koll graduated in 1989 from North Carolina with a degree in communications. He set the standard for excellence at Chapel Hill, winning a national championship at 158 pounds in 1988. Koll graduated as the winningest wrestler in school and Atlantic Coast Conference history, posting a 150-20-1 record. He was North Carolinas first four-time All-American and second wrestler in Tar Heel history to win a national title. Koll was the 1988 recipient of the Patterson Medal, given to the most outstanding senior athlete at North Carolina. A three-time ACC champion, Koll helped the Tar Heels claim three team titles during his career. He was twice selected to participate in the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, showcasing the top collegiate talent in the nation, winning both times. He also traveled to Italy as part of the NWCA All-Star team in 1988. After graduation, Koll served as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater for the 1988-89 season. Continuing his competitive career after graduation, Koll competed in the 1990 and 1993 World Cup, winning his weight class on both occasions. He was also an alternate on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. A 1992 World Cup Grand Prix champion, Koll placed fifth at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and was the 1989 Pan-Am Games champion. He won national freestyle championships in 1990 and 1991 and was the runner-up at the 1989 Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City. A native of State College, Pa., Koll was a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association champion at State College Area HS. His father, the late Bill Koll, was a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa State Teachers College (Northern Iowa) and was twice named the tournaments Outstanding Wrestler. Bill Koll was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1977. Koll and his wife, Rachel, live in Lansing and have two sons, William and Daniel.Rob KollRob Koll