Dave Novickis

DAVE NOVICKIS
Lawrence University Head Coach
1993-Present

Dave Novickis is the driving force behind the excellence of the Lawrence University wrestling program.  And incredibly he has done this a “part-time” employee of the university.

With 18 seasons as the Vikings’ head coach under his belt, Novickis has taken the program to new heights. The Vikings have gone from a solid team in the Midwest to a national power during Novickis’ tenure.

The Vikings had their first national champion in 2001-02 when Andy Kazik won the NCAA Division III title at 184 pounds. In 2000-01 Lawrence finished tenth at the NCAA Division III Championships, the highest finish ever by the Vikings. In addition, Lawrence had two All-Americans in one season for the first team and Ross Mueller became Lawrence’s first two-time All-American. During Novickis’ tenure Lawrence has sent eighteen wrestlers to the NCAA tournament and came home with five All-Americans.  The Vikings were ranked nationally for the first time in the 1998-99 season and continued to climb in the ranks and were ranked as high as ninth in the 2000-01 season.

Equally impressive has been the success that the Lawrence team has achieved in the classroom.  At one of the nation’s premier universities, Novickis has guided nineteen wrestlers to Academic all-American status and on six different years his teams have been recognized as one of the top academic wrestling teams in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

He was born in Chicago, IL but grew up in Pulaski, WI.  He was a standout in wrestling and track and was the first state qualifier for the WISAA State Wrestling Tournament from Sacred Heart Seminary in Oneida.

A 1978 graduate of Appleton East High School where he starred in football, Novickis wasted little time starting his coaching career. His first coaching job came with the wrestling team at Shiocton High School in 1979, and he later coached wrestling at Hortonville High School.

Novickis came to the Lawrence wrestling program as an assistant to Ron Roberts in 1990. Since taking over as head coach in 1993, Novickis has been named District 9 Coach of the Year in the State of Wisconsin three times and was 1998 NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year.

Novickis is the branch manager of McJunkin Corporation and lives in Appleton. He and his wife, Dawn, have two daughters, Tammy and Brittney.