MacMurray College has announced that Pete Di Pol will head the new men’s and women’s wrestling teams when the school begins competition next fall. Di Pol has previously coached at at the college level Gloucester County College (now Rowan College at Gloucester County) and Baker University. He most recently spent one year as the head wrestling coach at Heelan High School in Sioux City, Iowa. Read on for more from MacMurray Sports Information.

Mac wrestling hires a leader
February 18, 2016

MacMurray College’s new wrestling program took large stride toward launch with the hiring of a head coach with broad experience at the collegiate and high school levels and an extensive track record of building successful wrestling programs.

Pete Di Pol hopes to arrive at MacMurray next month to take over the helm of the College’s men’s and women’s wrestling program, which will begin its first year of competition in the fall semester 2016.
“It is evident with my discussions with our Athletic Director Justin Fuhler and College President Dr. Mark Tierno that they are committed to ensuring the success of the wrestling program and our future wrestlers on and off the mat,” Di Pol said. “Their passion for this new program resonated with my own passion and desire to succeed here and develop champions on and off the mat as well.”

For 16 years, Di Pol has led highly successful wrestling programs at both the high school and college levels, compiling an overall record of 295-92. He was named Coach of the Year eight times during his coaching career, three times as a college coach.

“MacMurray Athletics is excited about getting a head coach who has Pete’s impressive and repeated success in building championship programs to help the College launch its men’s and women’s wrestling programs,” said Fuhler, MacMurray’s athletic director. “We know he can hit the ground running, and we wouldn’t be the least surprised if MacMurray Wrestling quickly returns to its former glory under his direction.”

“Getting a chance to build a program from the ground up is an opportunity that not many coaches get,” said Di Pol. “The historic past of MacMurray Wrestling will make that job easier, and I’m looking forward to fielding a strong team from Day One.”

At the college level, Di Pol boasts a 46-22 record, coaching one national champion wrestler, two national finalists, seven All-Americans, 29 national qualifiers, three regional champions and five Academic All-Americans.

As head wrestling coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS, 2013-2015, he shepherded his team to two national rankings, No. 16 in 2014 and No. 14 in 2015 and the conference duals championship in 2015. He also coached at the collegiate level at what is now Rowan College at Gloucester County in Sewell, NJ, a community college, 2011-13, when his teams also won conference championships and placed 4th and 5th in the country in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Di Pol comes to MacMurray from Heelan High School in Sioux City, IA, where he was head coach during the 2015-16 season. He took over a team that had a 10-27 record last year; this year, the team set a school record with 24 wins and Di Pol was a finalist for Northwest Iowa Class 2 wrestling Coach of the Year. Previously, Di Pol coached wrestling in several high schools in New Jersey, where his teams won three New Jersey state championships, and he taught special education at the high school and middle school levels. He also served as a police officer in Wildwood, NJ, before entering the teaching and coaching ranks.

He has completed coursework for his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University in Boston; received his Ed.S. in instruction and curriculum and his master’s in counseling and human relations, both from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, and his bachelor’s in history from Rutgers University in Camden, NJ.

Di Pol also completed the National Wrestling Coaches Association Leadership Academy in 2012, and the Association’s Women’s Leadership Academy in 2014.

Di Pol expects to live in Jacksonville, with his wife Tina and their two school-age children, Angelo, 10, and Cecilia, 9.