Head Coach
Craig.Turnbull@mail.wvu.edu
(304) 293-9871
Over a span of the last 31 seasons, Craig Turnbull has built West Virginia wrestling into one of the strongest and most dominant programs in the nation. The four-time Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Coach of the Year has all the important ingredients in place for another run at NCAA dominance in 2009-10.
Leading the way in that endeavor is the WVU Wrestling Pavilion, which Turnbull was instrumental in getting built. The $1.4 million room – built in 2006 – boasts four mats, an aerobic room, coaches’ offices and a study center with a player lounge.
The room came after 29 of the most successful seasons the WVU wrestling program has enjoyed.
Individuals have thrived under the guidance of one of the more prominent names in collegiate coaching circles. In 2005, he led Mountaineer Greg Jones to his third national championship as the tournament’s outstanding wrestler, and in 2006 and 2007, he tutored Brandon Rader to a pair of sixth-place finishes to become the program’s sixth multiple All-American.
Seven seasons ago, Jones became the first athlete in WVU history to claim two NCAA titles. As a freshman in 2002, Jones won the NCAA title at 174 pounds before moving up to 184 pounds as a junior in 2004.
In 2009, Turnbull’s vast knowledge and experience was on display, leading the Mountaineers to an 8-4-2 overall mark. WVU finished second in the EWL in the regular season with a 4-0-2 record. At the EWL Championships, one wrestler earned an EWL title, with four additional wrestlers earning bids to the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
With his coaching success in 2009, Turnbull propelled himself into elite company. Totaling 253 victories, amounting to a .592-winning percentage, Turnbull currently is the ninth-active winningest coaching in Division I wrestling.
Turnbull’s impact was felt in 2008, leading an injury-plagued lineup to a respectable 8-5 regular-season finish. In the league tournament, two wrestlers captured EWL titles. Guiding his team to an overachieving season, Turnbull helped WVU become one of only 19 schools to qualify seven or more wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.
In 2006, Turnbull led a slew of young, talented wrestlers to a 4-2 conference record despite many who battled injuries throughout the season. With Rader receiving the only All-American honor, heavyweight Dustin Rogers was another bright spot after pulling off two upsets in the NCAA tournament. Rogers defeated the No. 11 and No. 6 seeds before falling in the quarterfinals.
In 2005, Turnbull’s squad claimed its sixth EWL dual meet championship after posting a 4-1-1 conference mark. Along with Jones winning a national championship, Turnbull guided junior Matt Lebe to All-America status at 157 pounds after he knocked off Stanford’s defending national champion Matt Gentry.
In 2004, Turnbull’s Mountaineers tallied another nine-win season, placing 16th at nationals and also finishing the season nationally ranked in dual meet rankings.
Turnbull, the winningest coach in the program’s history, picked up his 200th career victory with a 32-2 victory over Pitt on February 15, 2002.
In 2002, on the heels of consecutive nationally ranked recruiting classes, Turnbull assembled one of the best teams in school history going 12-2, including 7-0 in (EWL) dual matches, claiming the EWL regular season and tournament titles for the first time in school history, a 13th-place finish at the NCAA tournament and producing one national champion.
Turnbull has been on the Mountaineer bench for all four of WVU’s individual national championship titles and 18 of its All-Americans. Over the last eight seasons, WVU has qualified an average of nearly seven wrestlers for the national championships, including a school record nine in 2003.
In 1999, Turnbull led the Mountaineers to a school-best 54 points at the NCAA tournament to place ninth. It was the second year in a row the Mountaineers placed in the Top 10 at the NCAAs. Turnbull’s 1998 squad secured the team’s third EWL dual title, as he was named the conference coach of the year.
Turnbull helped guide Vertus Jones to four EWL championships and Jones became just the third EWL wrestler ever to win four conference titles. He was also the first Mountaineer grappler to become a three-time All-American.
In 1996, the Mountaineers’ victory over Duquesne earned Turnbull his 156th win and made him West Virginia's all-time winningest wrestling coach, eclipsing Steve Harrick's mark of 155 wins.
Turnbull's appointment as coach of the Mountaineers in 1979 came one season after the Mountaineers' entrance into the highly-competitive Eastern Wrestling League.
The team enjoyed a tremendous two-year stretch in 1990-91 as it recorded a 25-6 record, won back-to-back Eastern Wrestling League dual meet crowns, finished sixth at the 1991 NCAA Championships and recorded an eighth-place finish at the 1991 national dual meet championships. It was also during those two seasons that Scott Collins won the 142-pound national championship and Mark Banks won consecutive All-America honors.
In 1990, Turnbull was tabbed as the Eastern Wrestling League's Coach of the Year for the first time as the Mountaineers captured the Eastern Mat Poll, the first time WVU won the prize signifying the East's best wrestling school. Turnbull was named to coach one of the teams at the National Wrestling Coaches' Association All-Star Classic in 1992, a match that pits the nation's No. 1 and 2 ranked wrestlers against each other.
Inheriting a team that posted a 10-26 mark the two years prior to his arrival, Turnbull did not wait long before guiding WVU to success. During his first season, the team produced a 9-4-2 record, a feat which earned him Division I NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year honors.
Turnbull is also a member of the National Wrestling Coaches' Association.
After graduating from Clarion in 1974 with a degree in special education, the former NCAA All-American went on to coach wrestling at Strong Vincent High in Erie, Pa. He came to Morgantown after accepting the assistant coach's position. From 1976-78, while pursuing master's degrees in sports psychology and counseling psychology, Turnbull assisted coach Fred Liechti. The following season, Turnbull took over the head coaching position.
Turnbull and his wife, Sue, reside in Morgantown. They have two children, Carrie and Kyle.
