TWO-TIME NCAA CHAMPION JOE DUBUQUE JOINS PRIDE WRESTLING STAFF

HEMPSTEAD, New York -  Hofstra University Head Wrestling Coach Tom Shifflet today completed his 2006-07 coaching staff with the appointment of two-time NCAA Division I national champion Joe Dubuque as an assistant coach. Dubuque, a three-time NCAA All-American who captured national titles at 125 pounds in 2005 and 2006, posted an overall record of 114-18 including a 69-6 dual mark and a 19-6 Big Ten record in four years at Indiana University.

"We are very excited to have Joe join the Hofstra program," Shifflet said. "Joe has been very successful as a wrestler and just getting to know him recently I can tell he is going to be one heck of a coach. If I hadn't heard of Joe Dubuque and just met him on the street after a short conversation I would walk away saying that guy is successful."

Dubuque, a native of Bloomfield, New Jersey native, was a scholastic national champion as a senior and a two-time state champion at Glenn Ridge High School. After redshirting the 2001-02 season at Indiana, he tallied a 23-5 overall record and a 15-3 mark in duals and ranked as high as 12th as a freshman but missed the Big 10 championship due to an injury.

A year later, Dubuque qualified for his first NCAA appearance with a fourth place finish at the Big 10 Championships and then went on to earn All-America honors with an eighth-place showing at the NCAA Championships. He finished the year with a 34-9 overall record and a 21-2 dual mark and captured the 125-pound title at the Northern Iowa Open.

In 2004-05 Dubuque placed third in the Big 10 Championships and then defeated three ranked opponents on his march to claim the 125-pound title at the national championships. He became the first Hoosier to appear in a NCAA final since Roger Chandler did so in 1997, and the first IU grappler to claim a national championship since Brian Dolph captured the 150-pound title in 1990. He finished the year with a 29-3 overall record, an 18-1 slate in duals, a 6-1 mark in the Big Ten and a 12-2 mark against ranked opponents.

As a senior this past season he recorded a 28-1 mark, including a 7-1 record against ranked opponents, and defeated three ranked opponents at the NCAA Championships en route to the 125-pound crown. Dubuque became just the second Hoosier in Indiana history to capture two national titles and the first Hoosier to register back-to-back NCAA crowns. Only the fourth wrestler in Indiana history to earn three All-American awards he helped lead IU to an 18th-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships.

"Hofstra is a great fit for me," Dubuque said. "I believe that I can bring the right mentality and technique to assist our lightweights earn All-American honors. I am excited for the opportunity to help the program contend for a national title."

Dubuque, who earned a bachelor's degree in recreation sports management from Indiana, joins Rob Anspach, who has served as a Pride assistant coach for the past five seasons, on the Hofstra staff.