Nate Engel named USA Wrestling national teams manager of training operations

USA Wrestling has announced the hiring of Nate Engel as the National Teams Manager of Training Operations, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to the USA Wrestling National Teams department.

Engel joins the USA Wrestling National Teams staff while maintaining his primary coaching role with the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). In addition to his duties with the USA Wrestling National Teams department, he will continue to serve as a women’s wrestling coach for the WCAP program, a role he has held since March 2026, following his re-enlistment as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army.

“I want to thank Cody Bickley and Rich Bender for this amazing opportunity to help strengthen USA Wrestling as it evolves into an even bigger and better organization,” Engel said.

Over the past two decades, Engel has held coaching positions at the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, Stanford and Oregon State, developing 10 NCAA All-Americans. He played a pivotal role in Oregon State’s 2023 Pac-12 Championship and helped lead Stanford to a Pac-12 title in 2019, the program’s first.

Along the way, Engel has also been an active USA Wrestling coach and leader, serving as a volunteer coach for four World Teams—including the 2018 Junior Greco-Roman roster, which featured two medalists. He is a two-time USA Wrestling Women’s Freestyle Coach of the Year, winning the honor in 2020 and 2021, and the 2019 USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach of the Year. More recently, he was named a 2025 Athlete Advisory Committee Athlete Leader of the Year.

“We're very excited to bring Nate on board in this role,” said Cody Bickley, USA Wrestling Associate Executive Director, National Teams. “His experiences in our National Teams programming, both as an athlete & coach, help provide a seamless and increased focus within our resident programs for all three disciplines. In addition, his prior collegiate positions will help serve our programs as we continue to work with our collegiate partners & clubs.  Nate will be an extremely valuable addition to the organization as he cares deeply about the athletes, people, and staff that he works with. His commitment, dedication, and work ethic are second to none.  He will do great!”

In addition to his time as a volunteer coach with USA Wrestling, he has served as a personal coach for athletes at two Olympic Games and one World Championship, including Adeline Gray during her silver-medal run at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

As the manager of training operations for the USA Wrestling National Teams, Engel will assist national development coaches in implementing a national talent-identification program across all three Olympic disciplines. He will also play a key role in the USA Wrestling Elite Athlete Program, helping to enhance USA Wrestling's athlete development pipeline. Engel will further support resident programs to enrich camps and training for wrestlers at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center.