West Virginia Wrestling

Henson Honored by Amateur Wrestling News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 28, 2015) – West Virginia University wrestling first-year head coach Sammie Henson has been named the National Rookie Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News as announced by the publication on Tuesday.

Freshman Zeke Moisey was also honored as a member of the 2015 Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Team.

“I’m honored to receive this accolade and am fortunate to have a great team of coaches, wrestlers and support staff,” said Henson. “With the backing of an elite administration, we can look to build Mountaineer nation into a national powerhouse.”

Henson took the helm of the Mountaineers in May of 2014 and has brought the program to new heights in his inaugural season. West Virginia cracked the top-25 rankings in January after downing then-No. 25 Bucknell and proceeded to defeat No. 18 Pitt in the regular season finale. It marked the first time since 2007 the Mountaineers had come out victorious in the Backyard Brawl.

West Virginia scored a program-best 35 points at the 2015 Big 12 Championship in early March, producing four finalists for the first time in program history. Heavyweight A.J. Vizcarrondo became WVU’s first-ever two-time league finalist was one of five wrestlers to earn podium accolades at the event.

Four Mountaineers qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis and wrestled to a top-20 finish for the first time in 10 seasons. Under Henson’s tutelage, Moisey became the story of the tournament. The unseeded true freshman upset four ranked foes, including No. 2 seed Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, to qualify for the championship final at 125 pounds. Moisey was the first unseeded wrestler to wrestle a championship bout since 2003 and was the Mountaineers first All-American since 2007. In addition, he was the first WVU wrestler to qualify for the finals since Greg Jones in 2005.

“I’m proud of Zeke for his accomplishment in making the all-rookie team,” said Henson. “This is just the beginning of a great journey for Zeke. If he stays consistent, we believe the sky is the limit for this young man.”

Follow @WVUSports and @WVUWrestling on Twitter


Return to the WV-Mat front page