Army Black Knights Hire Former NCAA Champion as Wrestling Coach

The Army West Point Black Knights have new leadership for their men's wrestling program.

Tom Theodorakis, Army's director of athletics, announced that Troy Nickerson will take over as head wrestling coach. He is the Knights' 10th head coach in the program's 104-year history of the program. 

Nickerson brings experience and leadership to the program. He has an incredible track record with programs, most recently at Northern Colorado. 

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Before that, he led two other programs, starting with the co-head coaching at Finger Lakes. He was only there for a year before moving on to Iowa State as an assistant coach.

After serving as an assistant for the Cyclones for two years he moved onto UNC for 11 years as the head coach.

He transformed the program into one that consistently claimed Top 25 rankings. He coached six all-Americans with 37 NCAA Championship qualifications while at Northern Colorado.

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In addition, he coached 34 National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-Americans and 70 Academic All-Big 12 selections.

Theodorakis spoke highly of the new coach in the release announcing Nickerson's hiring.

“Troy brings a championship pedigree, a proven track record of success on and off the mat, and a clear vision for the future of Army Wrestling," he said.

The job brings Nickerson back to the state of New York, where he distinguished himself as a college wrestler in his four years at Cornell. With the Big Red, he earned four NCAA All-American honors as well as the 2009 NCAA Championship with a perfect 25-0 season. 

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“The opportunity to develop leaders of character while competing for championships is truly special. I look forward to building strong relationships with our cadet-athletes, alumni, and the broader Army community," Nickerson said in the release.

Army went 8-3 as a team last year, with a 5-2 mark in conference action. The Black Knights finished in a tie for third in the EIWA championships and qualified four wrestlers as automatic bids, along with three other at-large qualifiers, into the NCAA championships. It was Army's largest delegation since 2021 and tied for second-most in program history.

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