Minnesota Adds Michael Kemerer as Assistant Coach

Just over two weeks ago, the University of Minnesota’s coaching staff was dealt a big blow as assistant coach Trevor Brandvold announced he was leaving to pursue an opportunity outside of the collegiate coaching world. 

Golden Gopher head coach Brandon Eggum was able to move quickly and added a potential rising star in the coaching ranks, in Michael Kemerer, to replace Brandvold. 

Kemerer comes to Minnesota after spending a year on the Brown coaching staff. He also spent a year coaching and competing with Cornell’s Spartan Combat RTC. 

Kemerer is no stranger to the Big Ten as he wrestled collegiately at the University of Iowa and earned NCAA All-American honors on four occasions and once through the NWCA. 

During his time at Iowa, Kemerer never finished lower than fourth at the national tournament and he reached the national finals in 2021. Earlier that season, Kemerer won a Big Ten championship - which was his first after making the finals in two of the previous three years. 

Also in 2021, Kemerer was a leader on an Iowa team that won their first NCAA title in 11 years. They were also heavy favorites to win in 2020; however, the tournament was canceled at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Iowa head coach Tom Brands credited Kemerer’s initial signing as one that helped usher in a new era of Hawkeye wrestling. In the two years following Kemerer’s signing, top recruits like Alex Marinelli and Spencer Lee followed suit and headed to Iowa City. 

In addition to Kemerer, the Gophers still have a pair of mainstays on their coaching staff with four-time All-Americans Luke Becker and Zach Sanders. 

Minnesota returns a squad that features a pair of returning All-Americans (Vance Vombaur and Isaiah Salazar) and could field a starting ten that includes eight returning national qualifiers.