The Wisconsin Wrestling Federation, USA Wrestling’s state association in Wisconsin, has hired Ray Brinzer of New York, N.Y. to serve as its new State Coach.

Brinzer, who has been a successful coach and athlete on the national level, will start in his new position on November 1.

“We put a committee together for the application process,” said Dave Black, state chairperson in Wisconsin. “The hope was to expand our wrestling opportunities. We had several good candidates who were considered. By bringing Ray in, we have added to our pool of talented coaches, eliminated any conflict of interest within the state and brought a ton of knowledge to the position.”

He assumes a position which was previously held by Mike DeRoehn, who was named USA Wrestling’s Greco-Roman Junior Coach of the Year in 2010. DeRoehn was hired this fall to a full-time coaching position at Lakeland College in Wisconsin. 

Brinzer will develop and coach Wisconsin’s national teams at all age levels. He will manage the state’s training site program, as well as its coaches education program. Brinzer will develop and manage the state association’s website. He will also handle the administrative duties as the state’s head wrestling coach.

“I am very optimistic about it,” said Brinzer. “It is big enough and small enough. It is a big enough project to make an impact. I am looking for Wisconsin to win the Cadet and Junior Nationals. However, any of their training centers are within a four-hour drive of Madison. I will be able to get around to deal with people.”

Brinzer has been coaching on the state and local levels for many years, working with many of the nation’s top age-group athletes. He served as coach of the 2007 U.S. Greco-Roman Junior World Team. Brinzer was named 2006 USA Wrestling Cadet Greco-Roman Coach of the Year.

He has served as national team coach for two state associations, working as Iowa’s Greco-Roman National Team coach from 1993-95 and Pennsylvania’s Greco-Roman National Team Coach in 1991 and from 2000-2006.

Brinzer served as co-founder and coach for the Angry Fish Wrestling Club in Western Pennsylvania from 2000-2009. His club developed numerous athletes who won national titles and All-American honors in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. He was also a junior high coach for North Allegheny, Pa. from 2003-2007, and an elementary coach there from 2006-2007.

Among the athletes Brinzer has coached on the developmental levels are World silver medalist and two-time NCAA champion Jake Herbert, and NCAA champions Phil Davis, Coleman Scott and Jarrod King.

As a Senior-level athlete, Brinzer was a nationally-respected Greco-Roman competitor, qualifying for Greco-Roman Team USA a number of times. He placed second at the 1996 U.S. Open, and was a 1997 Sunkist International Open champion and Outstanding Wrestler. Brinzer won medals at international events in Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy and Cuba.

In college, he competed for Oklahoma State and the Univ. of Iowa. He placed third at the NCAA Div. I Championships in 1993 and 1995. Brinzer won two Big Ten titles for Iowa (1994-1995) and was a 1991 Big 8 champion for Oklahoma State. He was also a 1990 University National freestyle champion.

Brinzer was named 1990 ASICS Tiger High School Wrestler of the Year, after a stellar career at North Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania, where he won three Pennsylvania state high school titles (1988-90). He won three Junior National titles, claiming freestyle golds in 1989 and 1990, and a 1990 Greco-Roman title. He also qualified for the 1988 U.S. Junior World team.

As an athlete, Brinzer was coached by a number of the nation’s most respected coaches, wrestling for Gus DeAugustino in high school, Dan Gable and John Smith in college and Dave Schultz in international wrestling. He also trained for six months with the Bulgarian National Team.

He was a philosophy major in college, and has a strong professional background in computer programming. 

“In Wisconsin, I have dealt with open-minded people willing to do things differently and seeking to get ahead. If we have that approach, we will find a way to get ahead. What I am good at is that I know how to figure things out once I get involved,” said Brinzer.