NEWBERRY, S.C. – Newberry College director of athletics Matthew Finley has announced the hiring of Newberry College Athletic Hall of Fame member Cy Wainwright as the Wolves’ head wrestling coach, in a Newberry College press release of May 18. Wainwright will start his duties at Newberry on June 1.

Wainwright, a two-time state wrestling champion for Clay High School (2003-2004), is the second head coach in the program’s 12-year history. R.C. LaHaye will stay with the Wolves’ wrestling program as associate head coach after serving as interim head coach for the last two months.

Wainwright has been the head wrestling coach at Coker College for the last three seasons and was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Wrestling League Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season. He coached the Cobras’ first-ever All-American in 2016.

“I’m very excited to come back to Newberry College,” Wainwright said. “I owe a lot to the Newberry community for making me who I am today. I picked up a good work ethic from my time here and the community of Newberry had a lot to do with that. I carried it over into my daily life and professional career.

“When I was on campus for my interview, I felt the same feeling that helped me establish the foundation I still carry today. It’s good to know that student-athletes can still develop in all facets of their lives here. I am excited to come back here and be a part of that.”

Wainwright is the only undefeated national champion in Newberry College history, and his dominant run in his three years in a scarlet and gray singlet will be tough to approach. The Green Cove Spring, Fla., native went an impressive 36-0 in the 2008-09 season with 14 pins, winning the heavyweight national championship just minutes after Keeno Griffin. The three-time national qualifier also earned All-American honors in 2008 with a third place finish.

At the time of his graduation in 2009, Wainwright was the school’s all-time wins leader with 128 victories, all-time falls leader with 33 and all-time major decisions leader with 17.

Following his graduation from Newberry, Wainwright entered the collegiate coaching ranks. He earned his master’s degree at St. Cloud State and was named the first head coach at Benedictine (Kan.) before starting the program at Coker.

The 2015-16 season was a big year for the Coker wrestling program, as the team became part of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and finished second in the conference in its first season of affiliation. Wainwright led the Cobras to a 14-3 overall record with a 4-2 ECAC mark. Five Cobras were named to All-Academic teams and the Cobras finished with a 3.149 team grade point average, 18th-best among Division II wrestling teams nationally. Wainwright was also named ECAC Coach of the Year, with five wrestlers earning All-ECAC honors.

During his second season at the helm of the Cobras, Wainwright led the team to a 14-5 record in dual matches, appeared in the Top 5 in the Super Region II polls for three weeks, was twice ranked in the national polls and won the Coker College Coach of the Year award. In his first year leading the Cobras, Wainwright led the team to a record of 10-7 in dual matches in the program’s first season of competition.

Wainwright has coached 20 NCAA Division II national qualifiers, 11 All-Americans, two national finalists and one NCAA Division II National Champion. He has also coached two top 10 NCAA teams and a national runner-up team in 2011.

Newberry College director of athletics Matthew Finley: “We had a fantastic candidate pool with plenty of quality coaches in our search for this position and I am pleased Cy Wainwright has come back to Newberry College as our head wrestling coach. The future is bright and it is an exciting day for our wrestling program to have not only an alumnus, but a former national champion and athletic hall of famer come back and lead our program. “

“I am also very appreciative of the job R.C. LaHaye has done as our interim head wrestling coach since the season ended in March. Coach Wainwright has decided to retain coach LaHaye as our associate head wrestling coach and I’m confident these two highly qualified coaches will make a great team for our student-athletes and can really build something special with their combined experience and leadership.”

St. Cloud State head wrestling coach Steve Costanzo: “Newberry College made a great hire today with the selection of Cy Wainwright. Cy has proven to be a hard worker over the years and his work has shown. I look for great things to come from Newberry College with Cy at the helm.”

WAINWRIGHT YEAR-BY-YEAR

2013-14 Coker 10-7

2014-15 Coker 14-5

2015-16 Coker 14-3

Overall 38-15 .717