Sponseller Resigns As Eagle Wrestling Head Coach

After six seasons at the helm of the Ashland University wrestling program, head coach Colt Sponseller has resigned, and will go to work for his family's business.
 
"I've loved it," Sponseller said. "Having the opportunity to come back home and take over a program that I was very familiar with, and has a lot of history…Ashland University was my first experience to college wrestling as an 11-year-old watching Ashland University dual Ohio State at the Wendy's Classic.
 
"To be able to be in charge of the wrestling program here for the last six years has been a blessing to me, and Ashland University has been great to me and my family."
 
"I can't thank Colt enough for what he's done for our wrestling program and our athletic department," said Al King, Ashland Director of Athletics. "He's a high-character, high-energy individual and you can't ever have too many of those people. Colt was an excellent teammate in this department, he always had the best interests of the university and the department front and center.
 
"I wish him well in his next endeavor, but this is a significant loss for Ashland University and college athletics. He's top-quality."
 
Sponseller guided Eagle wrestling from the winter of 2020-21 through the winter of 2025-26, leading the team to five Great Midwest Athletic Conference championships in a six-year span.
 
"Hopefully, we can continue that," he said.
 
In his first season, Ashland placed seventh at the NCAA Division II Championships. His charges earned nine D-II All-American citations, and in six D-II nationals runs, anywhere from four to eight Eagles competed at the highest level in the country each year.
 
Sponseller spent five years as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Ohio University prior to coming to Ashland. He was an assistant with the Bobcats, with whom he coached 19 NCAA qualifiers, one Mid-American Conference champion, one NCAA All-American and three Top 30 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Academic Teams.
 
He began his coaching career at NCAA Division II Edinboro from 2012-15. There, he was part of a program which finished third and fifth nationally, and he coached 18 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champions, 10 Eastern Wrestling League champs, 12 NCAA qualifiers and nine NCAA All-Americans.
 
As an Ohio State grappler, Sponseller was both an NCAA Division I All-American (fourth-place nationals finish at 165 pounds in 2011) and Academic All-American (2010-11). He earned an overall record of 105-24 (.814) at OSU, and after his collegiate career, was fifth at the 2015 world team trials.
 
"It's going to be a little bit of a transition," Sponseller said. "To say I am excited and nervous for the opportunity to do something outside of wrestling would be an understatement. Just like anything in the wrestling world, the competition, the competitiveness, the ability to learn and improve, I'm excited to take those things that I learned through wrestling and put them into my new job."