Tom Shifflet, the head wrestling coach at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a former assistant coach at Cornell University, has been named the head wrestling coach at Hofstra University, Pride Director of Athletics Jack Hayes announced today.

Shifflet, who becomes the 10th head wrestling coach in the program's storied 58-year history, replaces Tom Ryan, who resigned on April 22 after 11 seasons at Hofstra to become the head coach at the Ohio State University.

"An All-American collegiate wrestler, a top-notch recruiter and an outstanding coach, Tom Shifflet has all the qualities that we were looking for to continue the winning tradition of Hofstra Wrestling," Hayes said. "He has been a winner at every level, knows what it takes to get to the top, and shares our vision and passion to make the Pride program the best that it can be."

Shifflet comes to Hofstra after four seasons as head wrestling coach at UNC Greensboro, where he was directly responsible for all aspects of the Spartans' programs including instruction, recruiting, scheduling, academic counseling and community relations. His tenure at UNCG was marked by annual improvements in recruiting, recognition and success. He also created and organized the annual 35-team Southern Scuffle wrestling tournament, which is one of the largest and more competitive Division I regular season tournaments in the country.

"I am excited about continuing the tradition that Hofstra University has in wrestling," Shifflet said. "It is a great opportunity for me to move the program along, like Tom Ryan did, without missing a beat. I look forward to setting lofty goals and working with a great group of student-athletes to achieve them. I want to move the Hofstra Wrestling program into the top 10 and top five in the nation. We certainly have that opportunity at Hofstra, which was a big reason why I took this position. I eagerly await the chance to work with the alumni and the friends of Hofstra wrestling to keep our program moving forward."

A three-time All-American and a four-time national qualifier as a student-athlete at national powerhouse Edinboro University from 1992 through 1995, Shifflet began his coaching career as an assistant at Georgia State University in1995, helping the Panthers post back-to-back winning seasons, and develop three conference champions and four NCAA qualifiers.

In 1997, Shifflet left Georgia State to begin a five-year tenure as an assistant coach at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. During his time with the Big Red, Shifflet coached 24 NCAA qualifiers, three NCAA All-Americans and helped head coach Rob Koll to a pair of Ivy League championships in 1999 and 2001. More importantly, Cornell was also consistently ranked among the nation's top-15 programs. The final Big Red recruiting class that he was involved with placed fifth at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City.

After five seasons at Cornell, the Amherst, New York native was named the head wrestling coach at UNC Greensboro on May 17, 2002. After a typical transitional season in his first year at UNCG, Shifflet managed to sign one of the top recruiting classes in the nation in 2003. That class, which included one high school All-American, four honorable mention high school All-Americans and seven state champions, received an honorable mention based on InterMat's 2003 final rankings.

In 2003-04 the Spartans claimed their first winning season since 1998-99, posting a 9-6 overall record with the nine victories ranking as the third most in the program's 12-year history. In addition, two of his recruits, Kevin Artis (141 lbs.) and Daren Burns (197 lbs.), captured conference championships in their respective weight classes with Burns being named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.

Shifflet guided UNCG to the most wins in school history during the 2004-05 season as the Spartans recorded a 12-5 overall record, 4-1 in the Southern Conference.  He produced the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year for the second consecutive year as Joe Kemmerer earned the award following a 31-7 season.  Kemmerer, along with teammates Daren Burns and Joe Lowe, each won their respective weight classes at the Southern Conference Mat Jam and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

In 2005-06 UNCG tied a school-record by sending four wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Championships in Oklahoma City and the Spartans finished tied for 31st with Harvard in the final Championship standings. The Spartans finished the season with an 11-6 dual match record and a 4-1 mark in the Southern Conference and had two wrestlers miss out on all-American honors by one victory.

Shifflet graduated from Edinboro University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education. As a wrestler, he registered 118 wins for the Edinboro Fighting Scots and was coached by the legendary Bruce Baumgartner. Competing at 142 pounds, Shifflet finished seventh at nationals as a freshman, sixth as a sophomore and third as a senior. He is one of four three-time All-Americans in school history. Shifflet also received the Eastern Wrestling League Freshman of the Year Award in 1992 and the EWL Wrestler of the Year Award in 1995. He was inducted into both the Edinboro University and the EWL Halls of Fame in 2006.  In 1996 Shifflet placed seventh in the final U.S. Olympic Trials in freestyle wrestling at 149.5 pounds. One year later he placed sixth in both the World Team Freestyle Trials and the U.S. Open.

Shifflet is married to the former Alice Faron of East Setauket, New York.

Hofstra University Head Wrestling Coach Tom Shifflet today completed his 2006-07 staff with the appointment of two-time NCAA Division I national champion Joe Dubuque as an assistant coach. Dubuque, a three-time NCAA All-American who captured national titles at 125 pounds in 2005 and 2006, posted an overall record of 114-18 including a 69-6 dual mark and a 19-6 Big Ten record in four years at Indiana University.

"We are very excited to have Joe join the Hofstra program," Shifflet said. "Joe has been very successful as a wrestler and just getting to know him recently I can tell he is going to be one heck of a coach. If I hadn't heard of Joe Dubuque and just met him on the street after a short conversation I would walk away saying that guy is successful."

Dubuque, a native of Bloomfield, New Jersey native, was a scholastic national champion as a senior and a two-time state champion at Glenn Ridge High School. After redshirting the 2001-02 season at Indiana, he tallied a 23-5 overall record and a 15-3 mark in duals and ranked as high as 12th as a freshman but missed the Big 10 championship due to an injury.

A year later, Dubuque qualified for his first NCAA appearance with a fourth place finish at the Big 10 Championships and then went on to earn All-America honors with an eighth-place showing at the NCAA Championships. He finished the year with a 34-9 overall record and a 21-2 dual mark and captured the 125-pound title at the Northern Iowa Open.

In 2004-05 Dubuque placed third in the Big 10 Championships and then defeated three ranked opponents on his march to claim the 125-pound title at the national championships. He became the first Hoosier to appear in a NCAA final since Roger Chandler did so in 1997, and the first IU grappler to claim a national championship since Brian Dolph captured the 150-pound title in 1990. He finished the year with a 29-3 overall record, an 18-1 slate in duals, a 6-1 mark in the Big Ten and a 12-2 mark against ranked opponents.

As a senior this past season he recorded a 28-1 mark, including a 7-1 record against ranked opponents, and defeated three ranked opponents at the NCAA Championships en route to the 125-pound crown. Dubuque became just the second Hoosier in Indiana history to capture two national titles and the first Hoosier to register back-to-back NCAA crowns. Only the fourth wrestler in Indiana history to earn three All-American awards he helped lead IU to an 18^th-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships.

"Hofstra is a great fit for me," Dubuque said. "I believe that I can bring the right mentality and technique to assist our lightweights earn All-American honors. I am excited for the opportunity to help the program contend for a national title."

ROB ANSPACH, a two-time NCAA Wrestling Championships participant, begins his fourth season as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater in 2004-05.

Anspach complied a record of 69-51 and made two trips to the NCAA Tournament during his five-year career at Hofstra. In 2000-2001 Anspach posted an 11-11 record and finished second at the ECWA Championship, earning a wild card selection to the 2001 NCAA Championships. That season he also won his weight class at the Bearcat Open, compiling a perfect 4-0 record.

In the 1999-2000 season, Anspach had a 20-15 record on his way to an ECWA individual championship and an NCAA berth. Anspach also placed first at the Congressional Cup and was the runner-up at the New York State Championships in 1999-2000.

Anspach, a resident of Hicksville, New York, is a 2001 graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in American studies.

Paul Schmidt:

2002 NYS Coach of the Year

2003 NJCAA Coach of the Year

Terry Madden:

Gold Medal at the Canadian Cup

Chris Weidman and Charles Griffin :