CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State University Director of Athletics Mike Thomas announced the hiring of Josh Moore as head wrestling coach Tuesday afternoon.
"We're very excited that Josh will be remaining in Cleveland and will be the leader of our program in the next chapter of CSU wrestling," Thomas said. "Josh has significant experience in leading programs to newfound success and a variety of team firsts, and we hope he has a similar impact on our program. He competed at the highest level collegiately at a premier program and has the knowledge and experience necessary to have success as a head coach."
Moore, a two-time All-American in his collegiate days at Penn State, brings 14 years of Division I coaching experience to the top spot at CSU.
"I want to thank Director of Athletics Mike Thomas, Associate Athletic Director Kathy Worthington Wilson and the entire search committee for believing in me as the next head wrestling coach at Cleveland State University," Moore said. "I feel honored and excited for the opportunity to lead this program and these amazing student-athletes into the future. I plan on using the relationships that I have built over the past 20 years to help develop Cleveland State wrestling into a nationally competitive program while preparing our student-athletes for life after college. I'm ready to get to work and rewrite the record books here at CSU."
Moore served as the top assistant at Cleveland State over the past three seasons and helped multiple individuals to noteworthy performances.
During this past season, Evan Cheek won Outstanding Wrestler of the Eastern Wrestling League Championships honors after dominating en route to the 141-pound title. Cheek posted a pair of pins over competitors that earned automatic NCAA qualification, including winning by fall against an undefeated, top-five opponent in the championship bout. During the 2016-17 season, Nick Corba won two matches with bonus points at the NCAA Championships, the first Viking to achieve that feat in over 20 years.
A pair of Vikings, Riley Shaw and Sam Wheeler, reached the round of 16 at the 2016 NCAA Championships under Moore's guidance. Both reached 30 wins for the season while CSU tied for second in the EWL dual standings with a 4-2 mark.
In his 11 years at Kent State, Moore was a key piece in helping to rebuild a program that had not had an All-American in nearly 20 years before his hiring. During Moore's tenure, the program had nine All-Americans, the program's first national champion and 54 national qualifiers. Kent State also finished the season ranked as a top 25 dual meet team eight times.
In his time coaching at Kent State, Golden Flash student-athletes won 19 MAC titles, four MAC Wrestler of the Year awards and four MAC Freshman of the Year honors. Kent State had at least one All-American in each of Moore's final seven seasons. When Dustin Kilgore won the national championship in 2011, he was not only the first champion in program history, but it was also the first by any MAC grappler in over a decade.
Moore has not only overseen improvement on the wrestling mat but also in the classroom. Kent State had a 2.35 team grade point average before Moore's hiring, a mark that improved to over 3.0 beginning in 2012. In the 2013-14 season, at Kent State, and in the 2015-16 season, at Cleveland State, teams Moore worked with were among the top 15 nationally in team GPA.
Moore served as the recruiting coordinator for Kent State and garnered multiple top 20 ranked classes, recruiting heavily from Ohio and Pennsylvania, as his efforts in the role raised the Golden Flashes' stature in the Division I ranks.
Moore was a two-time NCAA All-American, finishing as a national runner-up in 2004 and a third-place finisher in 2003. He is the Penn State record holder for all-time matches wrestled (184), single-season pins (24) and senior wins (44) and is tied for the top spot in career pins (53). Moore, a two-time National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic First Team honoree, is third in career wins at Penn State with 146.
Moore's twin brother, Scott, is the current head wrestling coach at fellow EWL member Lock Haven University and was also an All-American at Penn State (2003) and the University of Virginia (2004).
Moore and his wife, Shianne, reside in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with their three sons, Joshua (10), Jacob (8) and Jason (7), and their yellow lab, Nittany.
A native of Franklin, Pa., Moore graduated from Penn State in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in crime, law & justice. Moore earned a Master of Arts degree in sports management from Kent State in 2009.
