Sammie Henson was named the eighth head coach of the West Virginia University wrestling program in May of 2014, and has since helped elevate the Mountaineers’ profile in each of his first three seasons.
 
Since his arrival in Morgantown, the Mountaineers have gone on to win their first-ever Big 12 match, garnered their first-ever individual Big 12 title and collected the program’s 600th all-time win since the program began in 1921. In fact, all three happened just last season.
 
Heavyweight Brandon Ngati pinned Iowa State’s Joe Scanlan in the final bout of the match to claim a thrilling comeback win over the Cyclones, 22-20, inside the WVU Coliseum, earning the Mountaineers’ first-ever Big 12 victory on Feb. 12, 2017.
 
A month later, Dylan Cottrell, seeded No. 2 in the 165-pound bout at the 2017 Big 12 Championship, became the first-ever WVU wrestler to win a Big 12 title, as he defeated No. 1 seed Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State in a hard-fought 5-4 decision. With Cottrell’s first-place finish, the Mountaineers completed the two-day event in seventh place with 50 points.
 
However, the turnaround of the WVU wrestling program started long before the 2016-17 season. Since 2015, Henson has produced 10 national qualifiers in addition to coaching a true-freshman to a runner-up finish at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
 
In Henson’s first season at the helm of the Mountaineers in 2014-15, pulling then-freshman Zeke Moisey’s redshirt two weeks into the season proved to be one of the most crucial decisions of his career. Unseeded Moisey put together a historic run at the NCAA Championships, upsetting the No. 15, No. 2 and No. 7 seeds to become WVU’s first All-American since Brandon Rader in 2007. He then went on to pin No. 6 Thomas Gilman of Iowa in 52 seconds in the semifinals to become the first unseeded wrestler to advance to the finals since 2003. Moisey dropped a 9-5 decision to No. 4 Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State to cap his freshman campaign as the NCAA runner-up.
 
Along with Moisey, Michael Morales (141), Bubba Scheffel (184) and Jacob A. Smith (197) earned at-large bids to nationals. The four combined to post eight wins, marking WVU’s best NCAA finish in 10 years. The Mountaineers finished in 20th place with 23.5 points, their first top-25 finish since 2005, helping Henson earn Amateur Wrestling News Rookie Coach of the Year accolades.
 
In 2015-16, Henson guided a pair of in-state natives to the 2016 NCAA Championships. Smith of Charleston and Cottrell of Morgantown spent the season inside the nation's top 20 of their respective weights. The duo, along with Scheffel, qualified for nationals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In addition, the Mountaineers knocked off nationally-ranked rival Pitt for the second straight year and picked up a win over Edinboro to cap the regular season. 
 
The Henson era opened in Morgantown on Nov. 13, 2014, when the Mountaineers played host to Arizona State at the WVU Coliseum. Though the Sun Devils took the 19-13 victory in Morgantown, the match in front of 1,200 fans rejuvenated interest in the WVU wrestling program, which still holds true to this day.
 
In addition to his work with the Mountaineers, Henson started the Mountaineer Regional Training Center (MRTC), drawing a number of national and international-level wrestlers to Morgantown to train. In the summer of 2014, he guided assistant coach Nick Marable to a spot on the U.S. World Team. He also assisted former Olympian Clarissa Chun and national team member Jessica Medina through the MRTC.

A native of St. Charles, Missouri, Henson came to WVU from Missouri, where he spent two seasons as the assistant head coach. In just two seasons at Mizzou, he assisted in producing the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2013 in addition to leading the Tigers to two consecutive conference titles and seven All-America finishes, including one national champion in 2014.

Prior to Missouri, Henson was the assistant head coach at Oklahoma from 2009-11. While there, he helped secure the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the country, coached seven wrestlers to All-America status at the NCAA Championships and helped the program become the top academic squad in the Big 12 during his tenure. Before Henson arrived at Oklahoma, the Sooners hadn’t had an All-American in two years.

Prior to his stint with Oklahoma, Henson served as the head assistant at Cal Poly (2007-09), a volunteer assistant at Nebraska (2006-07), along with stops at Army (2002-03) and Penn State (2000-02).

During his time at Penn State, Henson assisted head coach Troy Sunderland in taking the Nittany Lions from 35th in the country to sixth with a pair of top-five recruiting classes in just two years. He has mentored numerous national champions, such as Michael Lightner (Oklahoma), Byron Tucker (Oklahoma), Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) and J’den Cox (Missouri), along with several All-Americans, Big 12 Champions, Big 10 Champions and Pac 12 Champions, including: Shane and Dane Valdez (Oklahoma), Witt Durden (Oklahoma), Josh and Scott Moore (Penn State), Chad Mendes (Cal Poly), Chase Pami (Cal Poly), Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly), Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), Zach Bailey (Oklahoma), Kyle Terry (Oklahoma), Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma) and Eric Lapotsky (Oklahoma).

Henson has been widely recognized as one of the elite assistant coaches in the country. Tim Foley of Intermat rated him as the best in the nation in an article from 2010, stating that "Henson's intensity is legendary and seemingly always transferred to his grapplers. There is nothing coincidental about his arrival in Norman and the Sooners impressive 2009-10 turnaround."

Along with collegiate coaching, Henson also is the current head coach for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, which has more current world and Olympic wrestlers than any other wrestling club in the United States. Out of the seven freestyle wrestlers who represented Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, three came from the Sunkist Kids. Included in that group is Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs at 74 kilograms (163 pounds). Also representing the United States in the Olympics in 2012 were Sam Hazewenkil (55 kg/121.3 lbs.) and Tervel Dlagnev (120 kg/264.6 lbs.).

Henson's resume as a competitor speaks for itself. He went on to become one of the most celebrated wrestlers in the history of the United States, as he was one of just a few wrestlers in USA history to earn three world medals. In 1998, Henson became a world champion for Team USA at the World Wrestling Championships, in Tehran, Iran, which eventually led to him winning the John Smith Award for USA Wrestler of the Year. He earned a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games at 55 kg (121 lbs.) in Sydney, Australia, and won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Wrestling Championships at 35 years of age.

Additionally, Henson was named USOC Athlete of the Month in September of 1998, and was a finalist for the Sullivan Award in 1999 for his efforts in the World Championships. In all, Henson has won more than 15 freestyle titles at the international level.

Henson started his collegiate wrestling career at Missouri, where he was a Big Eight champion and All-American in 1991. He then transferred to Clemson, where he became a two-time NCAA champion, finishing his career with a 71-0 record. He was named Clemson's Male Athlete of the Year in 1994 and was inducted into the Clemson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Henson returned to Missouri in 1995 to earn a degree in parks, recreation and tourism management.

Henson and his wife, Stephanie, have four children: Jackson, Wyatt, Ruby and Georgia-Kate. They also have two dogs, Biggie Smalls and Nelly.

Career Record

All-Time Olympians

Jordan Burroughs
2012 London (Gold)
2016 Rio

Clarissa Chun
2008 Beijing
2012 London (Bronze)

J'Den Cox
2016 Rio (Bronze)

Tervel Dlagnev
2012 London
2016 Rio

Sam Hazewinkel
2012 London