Drew Black - Strength & Conditioning Coach,
Head Wrestling Coach

      Drew Black enters his 14th year at the helm of Wesleyan wrestling in 2011-12 as he was just re-appointed and promoted to associate professor. Drew also serves as strength and conditioning coach as well as fitness center coordinator at the college. He is certified through both the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and USA Weightlifting as a Level I club coach.
     During his tenure at Wesleyan, Drew led the team to its winningest finishes in school history with a 17-2 mark in 2001-02, the most wins in a season at the college, and a 16-3-1 record in 2010-11, the second highest number of victories ever in a season.  Included in 2010-11 was a school-record 11-match win streak.  No previous squad had captured more than eight in a row. The Cardinals have been in the national rankings the past two seasons, finishing 29th for the dual season, as well as #1 in the New England poll.  In addition, with the 16 dual victories this past season, Drew became the winningest wrestling coach in Wesleyan history with 131 career victories over his 13 seasons.  The team has finished third in the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Conference Championships the past two seasons and are striving to win their first championship as the hosts in 2011-12 season.  In consecutive years, the wrestling team finished with seven conference place-winners, including New England Champion Kyle Roosa '13 at 174 pounds.  The team has had eight winning seasons (nine non-losing) over the past 11 years with a 120-79-3 cumulative mark over that span. Wesleyan has been represented in the NCAA Division III Tournament five of the last six years, most recently sending Kyle Roosa at 174 in 2011 along with NEWA Champions 125-pound Dan Bloom (2x) and 174-pound Greg Hurd in 2010. Both Bloom and Hurd qualified in 2009 as well.
     Year in and year out, the Wesleyan wrestling team competes nationally for wrestling and academic recognition. The team has earned team scholar All-America status in 10 of the last 11 years (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011) most recently finishing fourth in the country with a 3.505 team GPA.
     Drew served as president of the NEWA coaches association for five years and is a six-year veteran board member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. In addition he is Connecticut's national team director with USAWCT for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
     Before coming to Wesleyan, Drew was the head wrestling coach, fitness center coordinator and strength and conditioning coach at Phoenix (AZ) College from 1995-1998. There he directed his squad to a #6 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCCA) ranking and an 11-3 dual-match record in 1997-98. One of his grapplers won a national title while another finished third.
     A 1992 graduate of Syracuse University who went on to earn his Master's degree at Kent St. University in 1994, Drew took over as head wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach at Wesleyan in 1998-99. A four-year varsity wrestler for the Orangemen and a team co-captain as a senior, Drew was a two-time runner-up at the N.Y. state collegiate wrestling championships, seventh-place finisher at the 1991 Midlands Tournament and a fifth-place finisher in the E.I.W.A. Tournament in 1992.
     Prior to enrolling at Syracuse, Drew was a 1987 state champion at 108 pounds while a senior at Mahwah (N.J.) High School. He also placed third in the state his junior year.
     Drew is looking to have a nationally recognized, consistently winning program by attracting quality student-athletes from around the country who have a solid commitment to both academics and wrestling.
     Drew and his wife Jennifer reside in Middletown with their two children, a son Sean (12), and a daughter Leah (7).