USA Wrestling announces Junior World coaching staffs

Three highly talented coaching staffs have been put together for the U.S. Junior World Teams, which will compete at the 2018 Junior World Championships, Sept. 17-22 in Trnava, Slovakia.

Below is a breakdown of each squad’s staff:

MEN’S FREESTYLE

The U.S. Men’s Freestyle Junior World Team aims to claim back-to-back World team titles, after defeating powerhouse Russia by one point in 2017. Looking to help the squad repeat are coaches Teague Moore, Rob Eiter and Kevin Jackson.

A major part of the 2017 U23 World coaching staff, Moore helped three Americans to medals, including one gold and two bronze last November in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Currently, Moore serves as the head coach at American University, where this fall he will begin his eighth season at the helm of the program.

At American, Moore has guided 30 NCAA qualifiers, five EIWA champions and six NCAA All-Americans.

Prior to his stint at American, Moore spent five seasons at Clarion as the head coach. He also held positions at Harvard and Oklahoma State.

During his competitive days, Moore was a three-time National Team member and finished second at the 2002 World Team Trials.

Eiter is currently the head coach of a high school program in Maryland, St. Paul’s Independent Day School. One of his wrestlers includes two-time Cadet World champion Kurt McHenry.

Prior to his high school coaching position, Eiter made a name for himself among the college ranks, holding assistant positions at Clarion, Northwestern, Penn and Maryland. While at Penn, Eiter was promoted to head coach, a title he held for six years. 

During that time, Eiter coached 23 All-Americans and three NCAA champions.    

Eiter has also served on coaching staffs for USA Wrestling at international events. Most notably, he helped the 1999 U.S. Women’s Freestyle Team to its first and only World Team title in Boden, Sweden.

As an athlete, Eiter was a 1996 Olympian and a part of the 1993 and 1995 U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Championship teams. He also claimed five U.S. Open titles on the national level.

Teaming up with Moore and Eiter in Slovakia is National Freestyle Development Coach Kevin Jackson.

WOMEN’S FREESTYLE

Making up the women’s freestyle coaching staff is Matt Stevens, Kevin Black and Clarissa Chun.

Black, a two-time USA Wrestling Women’s Coach of the Year, joins the coaching staff with tons of credentials.

Serving as the Women’s coach for the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation, Black has coached several Cadet and Junior national champions and runs a successful women’s program out of River Falls, Wisc.

This year, Black has a pair of athletes on Junior World Team, including 2018 Cadet World champion Macey Kilty and 2017 Cadet World Team member Alisha Howk.

On the Senior level, Black has been heavily involved, coaching multiple women’s teams at the Senior World Championships as well as a number of international tours for USA Wrestling. In 2016, Black was in Helen Maroulis’ corner when she became the first Olympic champion for the United State in women’s freestyle.

In 2013, Black became only the 43rd coach to receive National Coaches Education Program Gold Level Certification, the highest level of certification available from NCEP.

In addition to his coaching success, Black was also an All-American and three-time NCAA qualifier for Wisconsin during his competitive days.

Stevens is entering his third year as the head coach at Oklahoma City University and fifth overall with the Stars. During his time at OCU, Stevens has helped coach five wrestlers to WCWA national titles and 25 others to All-American status.

This is Stevens’ first trip to a World Championships as an assigned coach for USA Wrestling.

Last summer, Stevens attended the Junior World Championships in Tampere, Finland, as a personal coach to Rachel Watters, who was a three-time Junior World Team member. He also assisted Watters to her Final X runner-up finish earlier this summer to land a spot on the Senior National Team.

In addition to Watters, Stevens has coached three other Junior World Team members, including eventual Senior World bronze medalist Becka Leathers.

Stevens also serves on the USA Wrestling Board of Directors as chair of the Women’s Age-Group Council and is the Oklahoma National Teams Director.

Also on the staff with Stevens and Black is Assistant Women’s Freestyle Coach Clarissa Chun.

GRECO-ROMAN

The U.S. Junior Greco-Roman World Team will be headed by Nate Engel, Herb House and Gary Mayabb.

Engel was recently hired as an assistant coach at Stanford and Director of the California RTC program after four seasons as an assistant coach at the Naval Academy.

While at Navy, Engel helped Matt Miller to All-American status, finishing fifth in 2016.

This won’t be Engel’s first time coaching a World Team. In 2015, he assisted at the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. That 2015 squad included Brady Koontz and Taylor LaMont, who are both on this year’s Junior World Team.

With his involvement in USA Greco, Engel boasts two 2018 U.S. Open All-Americans, including a runner-up, a 2017 UWW Junior Nationals champion and nine other UWW Junior All-Americans.

As an athlete, Engel, who trained at Northern Michigan’s Olympic Training Site and later at the Army WCAP program, was a two-time National Team member. He also represented the U.S. at the Maccabiah Games in 2013 and 2017. In those outings, he won gold in both freestyle and Greco in 2013 and claimed a pair of bronze medals in 2017.

Along with Engel is House, who has been around all levels of the U.S. Greco-Roman team as the current coach for the New York Athletic Club.

Some of his notable coaching gigs include the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2016 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, Nev.

He was also an assistant coach at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he helped lead the squad to its first team state title in school history in 2011.

Along with volunteering countless hours to coach the resident athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, House also serves as a personal coach for 2017 Junior World champion Kamal Bey and 2016 Junior World bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock. Both are 2018 Senior World Team members.

As an athlete, House was a successful Greco wrestler. In 1992, he won a Junior World bronze before bumping up to the Senior level in 1993, where he won bronze at the Pan American Championships. In 1997, he took fourth at the CISM Military World Championships.

Assisting Engel and House is USA Wrestling Manager of Greco-Roman Programs Gary Mayabb.