Wince, who has been a part of Gardner-Webb University wrestlingfor over 20 years, returned as the head wrestling coach in thesummer of 2009. Wince, who served as the Director ofWrestling Operations for the previous two years, completed his 20thseason as the program's head coach, having been the leader of theprogram from 1990-2007.
Wince officially retired after the 2011-12 season, his22nd year overall with the Runnin' Bulldog wrestling program.
"Our wrestling program has been positively impacted byCoach Wince during his outstanding career," said Vice President forAthletics Chuck Burch. "His leadership and influence has beeninstrumental in the lives of dozens of young men who have gone onto success after college. He is a pillar of our wrestling program'shistory, and will be missed. We wish him well in hisretirement."
"I came here in 1990 with every intention of staying fiveyears and moving on...instead, I fell in love with the people inthis institution, and with college coaching. I learned manyyears ago that the joy of coaching was not in wins and losses, butin relationships. There are so many more important thingsthan winning wrestling matches. I've been blessed far beyondwhat I deserve in so many ways that it's difficult to know where tostart," commented Coach Wince."
Wince has overseen the program from its days as a smallNAIA competitor all the way up to its current status as acompetitive mid-major program at the NCAA Division I level and itscurrent transition to the Southern Conference in 2011-12.
During his time as head coach, Wince steadily built andcontinues to obtain a winning tradition in Boiling Springs and hasseen at least one Gardner-Webb wrestler make it to the NCAANational Championships in eight of the past nine seasons.
In 2011-12, the Gardner-Webb wrestling program's firstyear as an associate member of the Southern Conference, the Runnin'Bulldog grapplers posted a 6-12 dual match record and a 2-5 recordin conference dual match action for the season.
Battling injuries all season long, the Runnin' Bulldogswere able to post a sixth-place finish at the 2012 SouthernConference Wrestling Championship in March, scoring a team total of21 points as three wrestlers placed in fourth-place or higher intheir respective weight classes. However, for the first time in theprogram's 12-year Division I history, the Runnin' Bulldogs did notsend a wrestler to the NCAA National Championships.
In the program's first ever postseason conferencechampionship tournament, redshirt-junior Travis Porter, whosuffered a fall in the True Second match at 197 pounds at theconference championship tournament, took third-place overall, whilefellow teammates Alex Medved (157 pounds) and Justin Guthrie (165pounds) each placed fourth in their weight classes.
Redshirt-juniors Alex Medved and Guthrie each posted 19overall wins on the season to lead the team, while redshirt-seniorMichael Slaughter finished his career out at GWU on a high notewith 16 total combined wins at 125 and 133 pounds,respectively.
The 2010-11 season was yet another successful season onthe mat, as Gardner-Webb had four student-athletes become EastRegional Champions and qualify for the 2011 NCAA NationalChampionships, the most that the Runnin' Bulldogs have had in asingle season since sending four grapplers to the nationals back in2006.
In the classroom, redshirt-sophomore Alex Medved wastabbed as a 2011 National Wrestling Coaches Association NationalAcademic All-American, one of 92 student-athletes across the nationto receive this academic recognition.
Redshirt-senior Jonathan Velazquez was named the MostOutstanding Wrestler at the 2011 NCAA East Regional Championships,as he helped lead GWU to a second-place overall team finish with atotal of 74.5 points at the meet.
Velazquez, along with Travis Porter and both Alex and RyanMedved, were crowned East Regional Champions in their respectiveweight classes and qualified for the national championshiptournament.
In 2010-11, Gardner-Webb had four grapplers' record over20 wins on the season, while six wrestlers posted winning recordson the year.
As a team, GWU picked up wins over Anderson (S.C.)University, Belmont Abbey, Davidson and east regional foesCampbell, Millersville and Sacred Heart, while posting a 22-22 tieat home against Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference on January21st.
In both 2009-10 and in 2008-09, Dustin Porter, who reachedas high as 11th in the national rankings at the 285 pound weightclass, qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third andfourth consecutive years, while in 2006-07, Rob Tate advanced tothe NCAA Championships where he picked up the squad's only victorythat year at the NCAA Championships and had one of only two winsfor the East Region.
During the 2005-2006 season, Wince's last year as headcoach, his team sent a then school-record four student-athletes tothe NCAA National Championships. For the second straight season,Josh Pniewski picked up a first-round win. Fellow senior DanielElliott became the only person in GWU history to earn a top-10ranking, finishing his season with a 40-4 mark. For their efforts,both Elliott and Pniewski were named first-team All-Carolina by TheTakedown Report.
Entering the season, Pniewski and Elliott had eachgarnered top-20 rankings in their respective weight classes bynumerous organizations.
In 2005-06 Wince's squad was highly successful off the matas well. Pniewski was named to the National Wrestling CoachesAssociation (NWCA) All-Academic Division I Team. As a team, GWU washonored as one of 30 NCAA Division I programs to post a team GPA of2.80 or higher during the season. The Runnin' Bulldogs recorded aGPA of 2.899 to rank 21st in the nation.
During the 2004-2005 season, GWU sent Pniewski and Elliottto Nationals after the duo each claimed the East RegionalChampionship. Not only did Pniewski and Elliott make history bybecoming GWU's first set of teammates to compete at Nationals onthe Division I level, but each grappler picked up a win in thesecond round to mark the first time in the program's history thatmultiple wins had been recorded at the NCAA Division I NationalTournament.
Along with its outstanding accomplishments on the mats,Gardner-Webb has excelled in the classroom under Coach Wince'sguidance. The 2004-05 team was honored by the NWCA as anAll-Academic Top-30 Team after posting a team grade-point-averageof 2.95. Pniewski was also named individually to the NWCAAll-Academic Team for his cumulative GPA of 3.56. In all, eightwrestlers have earned Academic All-America honors during Wince'stime at GWU.
A native of Ohio, Wince was a standout grappler at MountUnion College prior to beginning his coaching career. Wince was afour-time team captain and three-time team MVP at the school beforegraduating in 1970 with an undergraduate degree in English.
Before taking the job at Gardner-Webb, Wince was a highlysuccessful prep coach in Ohio where he was twice named as NortheastOhio's 'Coach of the Year' while tutoring several junior collegeAll-Americans and one eventual NAIA national champion.
Wince was named the 2003 USA Wrestling's FILA JuniorUniversity Person of the Year. The prestigious award goes to aleader who works with athletes and programs on the FILA Junior(ages 17-19) and University levels. Wince was also named as the2003 North Carolina Person of the Year for wrestling.
Wince's first NCAA Qualifier was his son, Erik, who is nowa high school coach.
On May 20th, 2012, Wince will be inducted to the NationalWrestling Hall of Fame for the State Chapter of NorthCarolina. He will also receive the "Lifetime of Service toWrestling Award".
Wince and his wife Carolyn reside in Lattimore, N.C., andare the proud grandparents of Rachael Elizabeth Wince, CarsonAlexander Wince and Joshua Cade Wince.
