Brad Penrith

Brad Penrith begins his eighth season at the helm of the University of Northern Iowa wrestling program. Penrith heads into the 2007-08 season boasting of four returning national qualifiers and a No. 9-ranked national recruiting class.

Penrith earned Western Wrestling Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2006-07 after leading the Panthers to their 22nd straight regional championship. Penrith also guided the squad to a perfect 4-0 mark in dual competition in the WWC to also earn the regular season dual conference title.

A former University of Iowa all-American and national champion, Penrith was named head coach on June 21, 2000, becoming only the ninth wrestling coach in the program's history. In his first seven seasons at the helm, he has a record of 63-52-3 and has sent 53 wrestlers to the NCAA National Championships.

In 2005, Sean Stender became the first UNI wrestler since Justin Greenlee in 1995 to three-peat at the National Tournament, placing second at 197 pounds. Eric Hauan made his fourth and final trip to the NCAAs, earning all-America honors for the second consecutive season at 174 pounds.

Having been affiliated with the Panther program since 1997, three of those years as an assistant coach, Penrith has been instrumental in securing six Top 25 recruiting classes. Penrith took the 2007 recruiting class back to national prominence as it was ranked No. 9 in the nation. In all of Penrith's seven seasons, UNI has been ranked in the top 15, with a high of fourth in the nation in 2004.

During his three seasons as an assistant coach, the Panthers posted their first winning dual record in six years in the 2000 season with a record of 10-5-2 and placed 11th at the NCAA Championships.

Penrith is the first to comment on his fellow coaches and their dedication to UNI wrestling.

"I have one of the best coaching staffs in the country," Penrith said. "A lot of head coaches have to micro-manage their assistants and I don't have to do that; I am very fortunate. Each one of these guys has grown and matured and become a better coach since joining UNI's staff. You can't ask for anything more than that. "Each one of these guys, individually, is great a person. I have guys with a ton of youth in them and they are hungry, and they want UNI to continue in the right direction. Everybody is on the same page and all my coaches get along as one big family and that's something that you always strive for as a head coach. My coaching staff is full of great role models who are able to train with the guys every day."

Prior to coming to UNI, he spent five seasons as an assistant at Nebraska, coaching the Huskers' lighter weights. He also served a one-year stint as an assistant at Boise State in 1991-92, spent two seasons at Arizona State from 1989-91, and was a graduate assistant at Iowa.

Athletically, Penrith's credentials are outstanding. He won the 126-pound national championship at Iowa in 1986 as a sophomore, then placed second at 126 in 1987 and 1988. He was a three-time Big Ten champ for the Hawkeyes and was named Outstanding Wrestler at the conference meet in 1986.

A 1988 Iowa graduate, Penrith also made his mark at the international level before retiring in 1996. He captured a Silver Medal at the 1991 World Championships, was the Gold Medalist at the Pan American Games in 1991 and won the title at the Pan American Games Championship in 1989.

Penrith has many accomplishments internationally, including placing third at the 1994 Goodwill Games, becoming a two-time Sunkist Open champion, taking the Roger Coulon title in France in 1992 and '96, being a member of the 1989 U.S. World Team, and taking third at the World Cup in 1990 and 1991.

Closer to home, he placed third at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials, won the U.S. Nationals three times--1989, '91 and '93 - and was second at the '92 final Olympic wrestle-off.

As a coach, Penrith is renowned as an excellent technician and recruiter. He has been involved with USA Wrestling at several levels of coaching and in the summer of 1999, he was the head coach of the United States team that competed at the Junior World Freestyle Championships in Sydney, Australia, which took the Bronze Medal in the team competition.

In Penrith's five seasons coaching the lighter weights at Nebraska, the Huskers crowned 12 all-Americans and two national champions. Nebraska also won the Big Eight Conference title twice. As a team, Nebraska posted top 10 finishes at the NCAA's three times, including third in 1993, and had the top-rated recruiting class in the nation in 1996.

A native of Windsor, N.Y, Penrith was a four-time state placewinner in high school, including winning the state title as a sophomore in 1981. He was named the Outstanding Greco-Roman Wrestler at the 1983 Junior Nationals.

He and his wife, Laura, have two sons, Gabriel (9) and Jacob (7), and a daughter, Grace Marie (4).