Al King, Ashland Director of Athletics, announced on Monday (Nov. 23) morning that Colt Sponseller, former wrestler at nearby West Holmes High School and The Ohio State University, is the 10th head coach in the six-decade history of Eagle grappling. Sponseller has spent the last five years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Ohio University.
“I’m super excited,” Sponseller said. “The history of Ashland wrestling and the University, it’s a long history of success. I’m really excited to have my first head-coaching job be here. My first experience in college wrestling was here at the Wendy’s Duals. Coming up here for camps and knowing a lot of the alumni…just knowing the history and tradition of success here, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
“Our hope is Colt will bring some new perspectives, ideas and energy to our wrestling program,” King said. “He’s been mentored by some veteran coaches who know how to build and direct an entire wrestling program, one that focuses on academic and athletic success.
“Colt brings an interesting background to campus. He grew up close to Ashland and got his first taste of college wrestling coming to AU to watch our teams and wrestle in summer camps. He competed at Ohio State and coached at Edinboro and Ohio University. Our hope is those experiences are going to help generate some new features for our program.”
Sponseller takes over at Ashland for Josh Hutchens, who spent seven seasons leading Ashland wrestling before leaving in September to take an athletic director position in the Daleville (Ind.) Community School District. Sponseller is coming into a program right before a new season – and with the added challenges that come with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sponseller began his coaching career at NCAA Division II Edinboro from 2012-15. There, he was part of a program which finished third and fifth nationally, and he coached 18 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champions, 10 Eastern Wrestling League champs, 12 NCAA qualifiers and nine NCAA All-Americans.
As a Buckeye grappler, Sponseller was both an NCAA Division I All-American (fourth-place nationals finish at 165 pounds in 2011) and Academic All-American (2010-11). He earned an overall record of 105-24 (.814) at OSU, and after his collegiate career, was fifth at the 2015 world team trials.
Sponseller is a 2012 graduate of OSU from the Fisher College of Business with a degree in Business Administration and a specialization in Marketing. He earned his Master of Arts in Communication Studies with a specialization of Managerial Leadership from Edinboro in 2016.