Doug Schwab named Dan Gable Coach of the Year by WIN Magazine

NEWTON, Iowa --- UNI head wrestling coach Doug Schwab has been named Wrestling Insider Magazine's (WIN) Dan Gable Coach of the Year, as announced by the publication on Friday.

Schwab, who was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Coach of the Year, as well as Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year this past season, is the first Northern Iowa coach to receive the honor from the Iowa based wrestling outlet.

"Obviously it is a great honor," said Schwab. "I appreciate the recognition. I got to be coached

by Gable and an award named after him is pretty cool. People have to understand it is beyond you as the head coach. It is the whole staff. I have a high-level of responsibility in being the guy leading the charge, but it doesn't happen without the assistants and the support staff following up behind you and doing so much of the work."

UNI posted a 14-1 record in dual meets this past season, its most wins since the 1990-91 season with six wins over ranked opponents in South Dakota State (twice), Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Iowa State. The Panthers also reached a fourth-in-the-nation team ranking, its highest mark since 1988. UNI also captured the NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championship title in the UNI-Dome in January.

Northern Iowa crowned three Big 12 champions in Cael Happel (141 pounds), Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) and Wyatt Voelker (197 pounds), coaching the Panthers to a second-place team finish, tying the program's highest ever conference tournament finish since joining the league in 2017-18 and coming just four points shy of a team title.

For the first time since 1986, the Panthers qualified for the NCAA Championships in all ten weight classes with nine automatic qualifiers and one at-large selection. Both Happel and Keckeisen earned All-American honors with Happel finishing in fifth place and Keckeisen as national runner-up, extending the program's streak of having at least one All-American to ten consecutive seasons and having multiple contested All-Americans for the first time since 2017.

In Schwab's career, the Panthers have won 127 duals, ranking third-most in the 101-year history of the program. Schwab has posted 92 NCAA Championship qualifiers with 22 All-American selections.

An Osage, Iowa native, Schwab was named Northern Iowa's ninth head wrestling coach in May 2010 after previously serving as an assistant coach at Iowa and Virginia Tech. A three-time All-American at 141 pounds, he captured the 1999 NCAA title and finished his career with 130 wins, currently ranking tenth in Hawkeye history.

Following his college career, Schwab continued to compete in freestyle competition, placing fifth at the 2007 World Championships in Azerbaijan, while also winning the 2007 U.S. Senior freestyle national title and bronze at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also won titles at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials and U.S. Nationals and represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Schwab currently resides in Cedar Falls with his wife, Allyson and their four children, Hayden, Hendrix, Jenna and Lennon.

WIN Magazine Dan Gable Coach of the Year Recipients

1997 - Lars Jensen (San Francisco State) & Mark Johnson (Illinois
1998 - Tom Borrelli (Central Michigan) & J Robinson (Minnesota)
1999 - Jim Zalesky (Iowa)
2000 - Greg Strobel (Lehigh)
2001 - J Robinson (Minnesota)
2002 - Bobby Douglas (Iowa State)
2003 - John Smith (Oklahoma State)
2004 - Jim Miller (Wartburg)
2005 - Rob Koll (Cornell)
2006 - Mike Denney (Omaha)
2007 - Brian Smith (Missouri)
2008 - Tom Brands (Iowa)
2009 - Mark Manning (Nebraska)
2010 - Tom Brands (Iowa)
2011 - Cael Sanderson (Penn State)
2012 - J Robinson (Minnesota)
2013 - Cael Sanderson (Penn State) & Jim Miller (Wartburg)
2014 - Tim Flynn (Edinboro)
2015 - Tom Ryan (Ohio State)
2016 - Kevin Dresser (Virginia Tech)
2017 - Cael Sanderson (Penn State)
2018 - Joe McFarland (Michigan) & Pat Popolizio (North Carolina State)
2019 - Scott Goodale (Rutgers)
2020 - Tom Brands (Iowa)
2021 - Jason Borrelli (Stanford)
2022 - Sean Bormet (Michigan)
2023 - Cael Sanderson (Penn State)
2024 - Neil Erisman (Little Rock)
2025 - Doug Schwab (UNI)

ABOUT WIN MAGAZINE
Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine (WIN), based out of Newton, Iowa was created in 1994 and covers all forms of amateur wrestling on the national level. WIN was created by Mike Chapman, who sold the magazine to Bryan Van Kley in 1998. Van Kley, a former high school and college wrestler from northwest Iowa, has continued to run WIN from Newton, a community 30 miles east of Des Moines.

Since then, Van Kley had made WIN the "Voice of Wrestling" by covering all the national wrestling events, including the NCAA and NAIA college championships, and many of the top high events, including the Ironman, Beast of the East, the National High School Coaches Association nationals and the Cadet/Junior Nationals, which is held each summer. Van Kley has continued to build the magazine, hiring Mike Finn as WIN's full-time editor, Michele Worthington as office manager and Kim Mapes as project manager.

UNI wrestling action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (University of Northern Iowa Wrestling), X (@UNI_wrestling) and on Instagram (@uni_panther_wrestling). Check out the latest Panther news and information online at UNIpanthers.com.

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