Two-Time All-American Rogers Named Assistant Wrestling Coach

American University Head Wrestling Coach Mark Cody has announced the hiring of Mike Rogers as an assistant coach. Rogers has nine years of coaching experience and was a two-time NCAA All-American.

Rogers has spent the last six years as the head coach of the Pennsylvania Junior Freestyle Team which he guided to two junior freestyle championships. He also served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Lock Haven University, for the last four years.

Rogers spent three seasons as the head coach at Central Mountain High School in Mill Hall, Pa., from 1999-2002 and led the team to a 29-16 overall record. In 2001, Rogers was named the District 6 AAA Coach of the Year. In his final season he led the Wildcats to a third-place finish at the district tournament and a fifth-place finish at the Northwest Regional Tournament.

A 1997 graduate of Lock Haven University, Rogers was a four-year member of the wrestling team and earned All-America status during his last two seasons. A three-time national championships qualifier, Rogers earned the 1996 Gorrarian Award, recording the most pins in the least amount of time at nationals. Rogers was also a two-time Eastern Wrestling League Champion and is one of seven Bald Eagles and one of twelve in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to win four conference crowns. He is also one of only 14 wrestlers in Lock Haven history to reach 100 wins, recording a career mark of 112-28. A native of Fort Myers, Fla., Rogers was a Florida State Champion in 1992 and a national runner-up that same year during his high school career.

‘Mike has been successful not only as a coach but as a competitor and has all the intangibles that we were looking for in an assistant coach,' Cody commented. ‘He is an excellent technician and will be an excellent workout partner for our student-athletes. I feel he is one of the top coaches in the country and he will get a chance to prove that once the season begins.'

Rogers received his B.A. in special education from Lock Haven in 1997 and a Master's in education in 2002. He and his wife, Danielle, have two sons, Caden and Teagen.