Rutgers Hires Labriola as Assistant Coach

Rutgers University announced today that they have filled a vacancy on their coaching staff by adding four-time NCAA All-American Mikey Labriola to their coaching ranks. Labriola is a Nebraska graduate who held down the 174 lb weight class for the Cornhuskers from 2019-23. 

At Nebraska, Labriola amassed a 115-29 record and capped his career with Big Ten and NCAA finals appearances. In both instances, Labriola was beaten by the eventual national champion Carter Starocci of Penn State. 

Labriola got on the NCAA podium as a redshirt freshman finishing sixth in the nation, while starting the tournament as the 10th seed. A year later, he was seeded 10th at the 2020 NCAA Tournament - the one wiped out by Covid. In 2021, Labriola finished third in the country and he was seventh a year later. 

During the regular season, Labriola captured a pair of titles at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and was a vital cog on a Nebraska team that won that tournament three straight seasons. 

Since finishing up at Nebraska, Labriola has moved back to the East Coast to train with the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club. Labriola is originally from Easton, Pennsylvania - in the Lehigh Valley, and went to high school at Bethlehem Catholic. The position at Rutgers will allow Labriola to remain relatively close to home. 

Rutgers needed an assistant coach after associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff was hired to lead Columbia as their head coach. 

The Scarlet Knights return a very strong lineup that includes four past NCAA All-Americans and ten wrestlers with prior NCAA experience. Rutgers finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 12-5 record and 20th at the NCAA Tournament in Kansas City. They racked up 22.5 points on the strength of two All-American performances.