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Osage native and former state high school champion wrestler Mark Schwab has been named head wrestling coach at North Iowa Area Community College.

“I look at this as an overall good opportunity, not just a wrestling opportunity, but an opportunity to teach and to further my formal education as well.  NIACC brings three important things together in my life.  Wrestling has been my whole life.  The classroom, which I resisted at first, I’ve found that I enjoy because coaching and teaching are the same idea in different arenas.  I also plan to work on another MA in sports psychology through UNI.  I bring a lot of experience at different levels of the sport.  I’ve been blessed to be around a lot of good people.  Now, I get to share my experiences with the athletes and students at NIACC,” Schwab said.

During the 2007-08 season, three NIACC wrestlers won national titles individually and the Trojans finished fourth as a team.

“Coach Schwab’s addition to the NIACC wrestling program signifies the rich athletic tradition to NIACC and the region. We are exceptionally pleased to have attracted Coach Schwab with his standing and reputation in wrestling as well as his strong North Iowa ties and his commitment to athletic and academic excellence,” Dr. Debra Derr, NIACC president, said.

Wrestling’s comeback to NIACC this past year marked the addition of a sport with a tradition of excellence at the College.  NIACC’s wrestling program won the national title in 1973.  The wrestling team, which began in 1967, had a record of 126-18-2 before the program was dropped in 1976.

“The selection of Mark Schwab as the head wrestling coach is the culmination of great work by our search committee and administration,” Dan Mason, NIACC athletic director, said. “With the historical and current success NIACC wrestling, it became apparent that the position would be considered a tremendous opportunity within the wrestling community.  Because of that, we were able to attract a pool of excellent candidates.”

Schwab served as head coach at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake for the past four seasons, with consistently improving results up to the NCAA qualifier this past season.  Schwab was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year in 2007.  The Beavers tied for 2nd in the Iowa Conference duals this past season.  Schwab also coached the first 4-time NCAA All-American in the 30 year history of BVU wrestling in Jestin Hulegaard.

Prior to BVU, Schwab spent nine years as assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, helping the program to seven top-three finishes and two NCAA championships. Schwab also served as an assistant coach at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN (1991-93), and at the University of Northern Iowa, his college alma mater (1990-91), after compiling a 115-18 collegiate mark and earning All-American honors twice for the Panthers. He graduated from UNI with a degree in Criminology. In 2003, Schwab earned a Masters degree in Education while at the University of Minnesota.

While competing at UNI, Schwab posted a 49-9 record in his initial season, the most wins by a true freshman in NCAA history, and placed fifth in the 1986 NCAA Division I championships. In 1987, he won the bronze medal in what was called the World’s Toughest Tournament in Tiblissi, Russia.  He trained for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team during his redshirt year at UNI as well and won a bronze medal for the U.S. team at the World Cup event in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. A knee injury and a staph infection combined to keep Schwab off the mats for more than a year, but Schwab finished his career with the Panthers on a positive note as a senior, placing sixth nationally in 1990 after winning the 118-pound title at the NCAA West Regionals and earning Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.

Schwab’s prep wrestling career was nearly flawless as he won 106 of 107 matches and earned four state titles for Osage High while earning three Junior National Freestyle titles and a national championship in the Greco-Roman category. Schwab was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Glen Brand Hall of Fame.  Brothers Mike and Doug have achieved plenty of success on the wrestling mat at well. They also captured state titles as prep wrestlers, with Mike eventually earning All-American honors at UNI and Doug winning a title at the 1999 NCAA Division I 141-pound finals while wrestling for the University of Iowa. Doug has since gone on to become an assistant coach at Iowa and he earned a berth on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Wrestling team in June by winning the 145.5-pound classification at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Las Vegas.

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