Head Coach Tim Flynn

TIM FLYNN

FOURTH SEASON • PENN STATE, 1990

Tim Flynn enters his fourth season at the helm after being named the ninth head coach of the West Virginia University wrestling program in April of 2018 Under his guidance, Flynn led the Mountaineers to a 7-3 record for their first winning season since 2014 and a 31st place finish at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships to close out the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign He also witnessed redshirt junior Killian Cardinale earn All-America status at 125 pounds Cardinale is the first All-American during Flynn’s tenure and the first following former standout Zeke Moisey (2018) in the same weight class Overall, Flynn has seen ten Mountaineers qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and WVU enjoy great success off the mat as well, earning 32 Academic All-Big 12 and four NWCA Scholar All-America honors since his appointment WVU placed 10th at the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Noah Adams’ performances highlighted the 2019-20 season, as he won the 197-pound title at the conference tournament to cap an undefeated season at 32-0 Adams, a two-time NCAA Qualifier, was the nation’s second-seeded wrestler heading into the NCAA Tournament The 197-pound grappler earned All-America First Team honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), becoming WVU’s first All-American since 2018, and received the 2020 Harman Award, an honor given to West Virginia’s amateur athlete of the year. He also became the first wrestler in program history to be named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and the second to be picked as a finalist for the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy

Additionally, Adams went 5-0 to claim the 197-pound bracket at the prestigious Southern Scuffle. For his efforts, he was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler He gained NWCA Scholar All-America status as well In his first season guiding the Mountaineers, Flynn led the program to a four-win dual season, which included a 19-17 win over No 20 North Dakota State at the South Beach Duals on Dec 30, 2018 The squad would go on to finish ninth at the 2019 Big 12 Championship WVU also produced five podium finishers at the conference tournament and sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Four Mountaineers earned automatic bids, while one grappler received an at-large selection to punch his ticket. Adams was one of the five wrestlers to make an appearance, competing on the national stage for the first time in his career. Flynn came to West Virginia from Edinboro, where he spent 21 years building the Fighting Scots into a wrestling powerhouse He compiled a 223-95-5 career record to become the school’s all-time winningest coach and a member of its Hall of Fame His accomplishments at Edinboro totaled 150 national qualifiers, 38 All-Americans, 64 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) champions and 97 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champions He led the Fighting Scots to five top-10 finishes at the NCAA Tournament, 14 top-20 finishes and 18 top25 finishes.

Flynn engineered two of the best seasons in Edinboro wrestling history, with his 201415 squad placing third at nationals – the program’s highest-ever finish – and earning four All-America honors His 2013-14 squad recorded a fifth-place finish at the national tournament, with three All-Americans The Fighting Scots ended the year with an 11-3 record, winning 10 of their last 11 duals, including a 17-16 win over No 6 Pitt He received NWCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year honors, shared InterMat Coach of the Year honors with Minnesota’s J Robinson and was selected as WIN’s Dan Gable Coach of the Year He was the EWL Coach of the Year seven times and the PSAC Coach of the Year 13 times Flynn also coached three national champions (John Koscheck at 174 in 2001, Gregor Gillespie at 149 in 2007 and Jarrod King at 165 in 2009) and eight NCAA runners-up Under the former Penn State All-American, Edinboro dominated eastern wrestling circles, winning the EWL Championships 15 times, including eight straight from 2003-10, along with 16 PSAC tournament titles in his 21 campaigns At one point, Edinboro won 34 of 35 EWL dual matches, which included a 29-match winning streak Before taking over the head coaching duties, Flynn was an assistant at Edinboro under legendary coach and Olympian Bruce Baumgartner from 1992-97 Flynn assisted Baumgartner to a 56-21 record, including a 14-0 dual-match mark and a sixth-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Following three standout seasons at Vista High in Vista, California, Flynn moved east to finish his prep career at Annapolis Senior High in Annapolis, Maryland He went on to enjoy a stellar career at Penn State, captaining the 1986-87 squad, while earning All-America honors at 134 pounds He went 30-10-1 as a senior, winning the EWL title and finishing seventh at nationals. The Nittany Lions enjoyed one of their greatest seasons ever with an 18-1-1 record and a third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament. Flynn finished with a 105-32-2 collegiate record, still ranking among the all-time career leaders in victories at Penn State He also won the EWL 126-pound title as a junior in 1986, finishing with a 30-7-1 mark, and qualified for nationals as a sophomore after finishing second at the EWL Championships. He was a four-time Midlands Championships place winner, a two-time Mat-Town USA champion and was an Espoir National freestyle runner-up in 1984 For all his contributions to the sport through coaching and wrestling in Pennsylvania, Flynn was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association (PWCA) Hall of Fame in October 2021 Flynn, who is currently a member of the NWCA Leadership Group, graduated from Penn State in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in business management He later earned his master’s degree in business administration from Penn State with a concentration in finance in 1990. He and his wife, Tanya, have two children - Logan and Riley