Wrestling Recruit

Trine University, located in Angola, Indiana, is best known for its engineering programs, small class sizes, and a high employment after graduation (98.8 percent of Trine graduates find employment or are in graduate school within six months of graduation).

The wrestling program is led by Coach Dan Callahan, a 10 year coaching veteran at Trine and the founding coach. In those 10 years, Coach Callahan has led the Thunder to a Mid-States Conference title in 2009-2010, NCAA Midwest regional runner-up in 2009 and 2010, produced four NCAA All-Americans, 11 NCAA National Qualifiers, and 14 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, and been named the Mid-State Conference Coach of the Year in 2006-2007 and 2009-2010. His assistant, Coach Adam Wilson, was a four-year starter at Olivet College and a three-time NCAA Division III Midwest Regional placer.

Overall, Trine University is a small, successful Division III college that produces highly qualified graduates that succeed in and out of the wrestling room.

Quick Facts

Interview with Coach Wilson

I had the opportunity to talk to Assistant Coach Adam Wilson about Trine Wrestling...

Note that this interview was originally posted on Team Jeff Wrestling.

What separates Trine from other wrestling programs?

• In my opinion, I think it is forgotten that the wrestling program here at Trine University is a relatively new program in the NCAA Division III. The program was started in 2005 and began competing in Division III in 2007. In the short amount of time the program has been around, we have had a tremendous amount of success. We have produced 4 NCAA All-Americans, 11 NCAA National Qualifiers, and 14 NWCA Scholar All-Americans. In addition to the success in the wrestling program, our students at Trine are having a tremendous amount of success in the classroom. Recently, Trine University announced that the University has placed over 98% of our 2015 graduated in a job in their field, or into graduate school, within 6 months of graduation. This number has brought our three year average to over 98% as well. Also, the University guarantees that the student graduates in four years; if they do not (as long as the student is maintaining a strong academic standing) the University will pay for the 5th year to come back to Trine and complete the degree.With all of those great accomplishments together, we truly feel we can provide our student-athletes with a championship environment in the classroom and in the wrestling program.

• We are fortunate here at Trine to be surrounded with amazing facilities. Actually, nearly every building on campus has been rebuilt in the last 10 years and the University is getting ready to break ground on another new project as Best Hall (home to our Jannen School of Arts and Sciences) will be undergoing a renovation. My favorite part about Trine's campus is you get a "big campus" feel on such a small campus. With just 2,500 students on campus our students are able to thrive academically and socially in a smaller setting. From our academic buildings, on-campus housing facilities, and our athletic facilities, we are truly blessed to have some of the best facilities around.

• The student-athletes in our program have done a tremendous job getting involved in the campus community in various leaderships roles. In return, our student-athletes are highly regarded around campus. This brings a large amount of student and faculty support to our home competitions. This past year, we hosted a Military Appreciation Dual meet and were able to gain the support of numerous student organizations on campus to support the event.

• Throughout the recruiting process, our coaching staff does our best to build relationships with the student-athlete as we want to get to know them as a person. We are really looking for student-athletes who are showing signs that they will have a positive impact in our wrestling program, but most importantly have a positive impact on the Trine University community as a whole. We often say there are two types of people... those who HAVE character and those that ARE a character. We want to recruit those student-athletes who have character and be a positive member of our program.

• In our program, we really stress academic success to high school athletes. Obviously, we want to recruit student-athletes who love the sport of wrestling, have found a passion for the sport, and are achieving a level of success in competition. However, those things are not able to translate into a collegiate setting if the student is not taking care of business in the classroom. When we recruit student-athletes from high school, we do a lot of research about the student-athletes academic success, character, leadership, etc... then we evaluate their wrestling ability.For any student-athlete looking to wrestle at the college level, I would encourage that the student-athlete stays committed to the sport and does not shy away from making contact with schools they are interested in.

• Thank you for this opportunity to share some information about Trine University and our wrestling program. Lastly, I would like to share some thoughts that I always talk with recruits when discussing their college search process. Make sure you (the student-athlete) are looking at more than wrestling when looking at schools. Take a look at college rosters... it is very common that a college roster will have 5-6 seniors wrestling on their team. This is not a program specific "thing"... this is a college athletics "thing". With that thought, make sure you are picking the school for the school. Be sure to do your research and make sure the institution you are considering has your major of interest, has strong graduation rates, has strong career and graduate school placement rates. The reality is that 99% of those individuals who participate in college wrestling will finish their wrestling careers when they graduate from college. However, they will begin their careers as an engineer, an educator, as a business owner, as a physical therapist, etc...

Promo Video