Former Central Michigan All-American and U.S. Senior Nationals Champion Wynn Michalak enters his third season as Campbell’s associate head wrestling coach.
Last season, Campbell won its fourth straight SoCon tournament championship, with all 10 Camels in the 2022 field wrestling for medals, and nine earning spots on the podium, including individual championships from Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight.
In addition to sending six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, Campbell also finished fifth in the 2021-22 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, an all-time high for the program, and posted two Scholar All-Americans.
In his first season in Buies Creek, Michalak helped guide the Camels to their third straight Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships, finishing the regular season at 8-1 overall, with a perfect 7-0 SoCon mark.
Ranking as high as No. 22 in the NCWA team poll and No. 19 by InterMat, Campbell sent a school record seven qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., where 174 pounder Austin Murphy, one of four first time qualifiers from CU, earned a top-12 finish.
Murphy was one of four All-SoCon selections in 2021, along with Benjamin Barton at 157 pounds, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Chris Kober at 197.
Additionally, Campbell was honored at No. 15 in the 2020-21 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, while Josh Heil and Caleb Hopkins were both named Scholar All-Americans.
Michalak came to Campbell from Michigan State, where he has served as an assistant coach from 2016-20, coaching 14 NCAA qualifiers, including 2020 All-American Cameron Caffey and 2019 All-American Rayvon Foley.
The Spartans qualified seven for the NCAA Championships in 2020 after placing 33rd in the 2019 team standings. During the 2019-20 campaign, Michigan State also registered dual wins over No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 20 Oklahoma.
His coaching experience also includes four seasons as a volunteer assistant at Illinois (2012-16), where he helped train two-time NCAA Champion Isaiah Martinez, and two seasons (2009-10) as a graduate assistant at CMU.
One of the most successful wrestlers in Central Michigan history, Michalak was a four-time Mid-American Conference Champion (2005-08), three-time MAC Wrestler of the Year (2006-08), and a three-time NCAA All-American (2005, 2006, 2008), including a runner-up finish at 197 pounds in 2008. He won the 2015 U.S. Senior Nationals title at 97 kg/213 pounds on Dec. 19, 2015, in Las Vegas, and competed in the past two U.S. Olympic wrestling trials.
Michalak ranks second all-time at Central Michigan in winning percentage (.842, 128-24 record), third in pins (50) and fourth in victories (128). The two-time team MVP (2006, 2008) was named the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2005 and MAC Wrestler of the Year three times (2006-08). The first Chippewa to win four MAC Championships, all at 197 pounds, Michalak was also a three-time All-American, placing sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2005, eighth in 2006 and second in 2008. He also helped lead the Chippewas to team conference championships all four of his seasons in Mount Pleasant.
Michalak owns two of the best seasons (winning percentage) in CMU history, going 30-2 (.938) in 2007-08 and 33-4 (.892) in 2005-06, and also has two of the Top 10 single-season pin totals (15 in 2005-06 is tied for fifth; 13 in 2007-08 is tied for ninth).
Not only was Michalak successful on the mat at CMU, he was a four-time Academic All-MAC and NWCA All-Academic team selection and earned Academic All-America honors in 2008. He received both the NCAA post-graduate scholarship and Bob James Memorial Scholarship in 2008. Michalak graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average and earned a bachelor's degree in secondary mathematics education and physical education from Central Michigan in 2008. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in sports administration from CMU.
Post collegiately, Michalak was the 2010 Hargobind International champion and was runner-up at the 2011 Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Open and Sunkist Kids International Open.
Wrestling for the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, Michalak won the 2015 U.S. Senior Nationals title at 97 kg/213 pounds over Scott Schiller in the finals, 12-4, on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas.
Michalak was a two-time state champion, three-time all-state honoree, and four-time conference champion at Caro (Mich.) High School. He helped lead his team to the Division III state title in senior season and finished his career with a 232-8 record. He lettered four times in wrestling and three in football, and received all-state honors twice as a quarterback.
Michalak married Jessica Davis on Jan. 1, 2016.
