Penn announces return of wrestling assistant

On Wednesday morning, Penn announced the hire of Brian Dolph to help bolster the squad as the look to improve on last year’s fifth place finish at the EIWA Championships.

Dolph had previously worked on the Penn coaching staff from 1994-2003 under the successful term of Roger Reina. In this stint he worked with 33 first-team All-Ivy wrestlers, 1 national champion in Brett Matter and 1 national runner up in Brandon Slay.

As a collegiate wrester at Indiana University from 1986-1990, Dolph notched a 127-9 record, including a program-best 46 wins during his last year. That year he captured the 150-pound NCAA Title, which secured a third straight All-American honor.

The Canton, Ohio native continued to wrestle while coaching at Penn. He had a very successful 10-year run where he qualified every year for the World and Olympic Trials. In 2000 he finished in third at the 2000 U.S. National Wrestling Freestyle Championships at 167.5 pounds, to qualify for the Olympic Trials. There he met Quaker Alum Brandon Slay, who defeated Dolph for a spot on the national team and would go on to win a gold medal in Sydney.

After leaving Penn in 2003, Dolph worked as an assistant at Cleveland State from 2006-07 and briefly served as the head coach at Massillon Perry High School (2004-06) and North Canton Hoover High School (2007-10) in Ohio.

During his time as high school coach, he would train future NCAA champions Michigan’s Steve Luke and Minnesota’s Dustin Schlatter. Last year Dolph worked as a volunteer assistant for the University of Michigan.