USAFA, Colo. - Air Force head wrestling coach Joel Sharratt announced today that Bart Horton will join his staff as an assistant coach. Horton comes to the Academy after spending nine years as the first assistant at the University of Missouri. "Air Force Wrestling is about building leaders of character and champions of wrestling," said Sharratt. "Bart's background combined with his character made him an excellent fit to imbue our cadets with the institutional mission while relentlessly pursuing program goals."

"We are tremendously excited to welcome Bart, his wife, Lorna, and their young son, Max, into the Falcon Family," stated Col. Billy Walker, Deputy Director of Athletics. "Bart is unquestionably one of the premier assistant coaches in the country, having helped build Missouri into a national power, and we feel extremely fortunate to be able to add him to our staff. Bart's experience, technical knowledge and intensity will be a perfect match for our wrestling room. I know he's excited about getting started on building leaders of character and we're just as excited about getting him engaged."

In his nine seasons at Missouri, Horton has helped the Tigers continuously improve, culminating in a banner year in 2007. In addition to taking home the team trophy at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Missouri, led by two-time national champion Ben Askren, finished third at the NCAA Championship. The Tigers' showing in 2007 marked the program's highest-ever placing at the national tournament.

Horton has also proven his value as a recruiter, helping Missouri land a pair of top-10 recruiting classes and an additional four top-15 recruiting classes in the past six years. 

A 1997 graduate of Iowa State University, Horton was an All-American at 167-pounds in his senior campaign. He was also a four-year letterwinner and a two-time freestyle All-American for the Cyclones under head coach Bobby Douglas. Horton was also named a High School All-American in 1992, while wrestling at Wahlert High School in Dubuque, Iowa.