“Our wrestling program has been positively impacted by Coach Wince during his outstanding career," said Vice President for Athletics Chuck Burch. "His leadership and influence has been instrumental in the lives of dozens of young men who have gone on to success after college. He is a pillar of our wrestling program's history, and will be missed. We wish him well in his retirement."
Wince, who has overseen the program from its days as a small NAIA competitor all the way to its current status as a competitive mid-major program at the NCAA Division I level and its first year in the Southern Conference, has steadily built a winning tradition in Boiling Springs, N.C.
“I came here in 1990 with every intention of staying five years and moving on…instead, I fell in love with the people in this institution, and with college coaching. I learned many years ago that the joy of coaching was not in wins and losses, but in relationships. There are so many more important things than winning wrestling matches. I’ve been blessed far beyond what I deserve in so many ways that it’s difficult to know where to start,” commented Coach Wince.”
Under his tutelage, the GWU program has seen at least one wrestler make it to the NCAA National Division I Championships in eight of the last nine seasons, including having four grapplers qualify for the national tournament both in 2011 and 2006, both school records.
In fact, Wince’s first NCAA Division I national qualifier was his son Erik in 2002-03.
During GWU’s 12-year Division I history, the Runnin’ Bulldogs have had a total of 16 national qualifiers, while grapplers Dustin Porter, Josh Pniewski and Daniel Elliott all earned top-20 national rankings during their time as Runnin’ Bulldogs.
In GWU’s NAIA and NCAA Division II history, Wince had four wrestlers earn All-America honors, the first being James Short in 1997, while Kenny Wince, another of Coach Wince’s sons, was GWU’s first of eight Academic All-Americans in 1999.
“It has been amazing seeing young men go through the most profound maturation of their lives and being a part of it. It has been amazing to be able to use our great sport as a vehicle for introducing people to the Gospel. It has been amazing to hear from alumni that even decades later they believe that being a part of Gardner-Webb wrestling has helped them to become great husbands, fathers…etc. and that they are grateful for having been here,” stated Coach Wince.
On more than one occasion, Coach Wince’s squad has been honored for their work in the classroom, being honored numerous times by the National Wrestling Coaches Association as one of the top-30 NCAA Division I programs in team grade point average throughout various seasons under his tenure.
“I’ve been blessed to become friends with some of the greatest names in our sport. I’ve been especially been blessed to have alumni who are now dear and longtime friends and hunting buddies,” continued Wince.
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