NWCA Announces 2022 Scholastic Coach of the Year Winners

Manheim, PA – On Thursday the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced the winners for their Scholastic Coach of the Year Awards.  Head Coaches and Assistant Coaching Staffs are honored for both Boys and Girls programs at the National, Section, and State levels.

The National Head Coaches of the year are, for the boys, Brandon Lorek of Crown Point High School (Indiana – Section 4) and for the girls, Tate Thompson from Pratt High School (Kansas – Section 5).

Receiving the National Boys Head Coach of the Year is Brandon Lorek of Crown Point High School.  Each of Coach Lorek’s 16 seasons have been spent at Crown Point High and his current dual record is 74-20. This year’s squad won the state coaches association’s dual championship as well as the individual state championship with 11 state qualifiers, nice placers, and three state champions.

This year’s National Girls Head Coach of the Year, Coach Tate Thompson has been coaching the sport for 16 years, the past 13 at Pratt High.  Coach Thompson’s 2022 squad captured the State Championship with nine State Qualifiers, four placers, and two individual state champions. This comes a year after finishing as the State Runners-Up.

This year’s National Assistant Coaching Staffs of the Year are, for the boys, Flathead High School  (Montana | Section 8), and for the girls, Tullahoma High School (Tennessee – Section 3)

The Boys Assistant Staff of Flathead High School (Montana | Section 8) is comprised of Dallas Stuker, Marc Nadeau, Kevin Wilmont, Marshal Sullivan, Patrick Neal, Justin Whitman, and Amber Downing.  This staff has been together the past six years and during that time have brought home six state titles and a runner-up finish. This year the team set a new scoring record score at the state championship.

The honor of Girls National Assistant Staff of the Year goes to Tullahoma High School (Tennessee | Section 3). Their staff is comprised of Tori Feuerbacher and Katy Champion. The Tullahoma squad finished their dual season as the 4th place team in the state of Tennessee. They also won traditional Region Championship and qualified 10 wrestlers for the State Tournament where they had four wrestlers earn a state medal.

“On behalf of the NWCA Board of Directors and our President Coach Kevin Ward, I’m happy to recognize the outstanding coaches and mentors from around the nation,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “The commitment necessary to play an important role in the lives of student-athletes often goes unnoticed and we are excited to shine a light on this year’s award winners and their programs.”