Nate Engel - Wrestling Coach - Oregon State University Athletics

Nate Engel

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
nathan.engel@oregonstate.edu

Nate Engel was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2021-22 season after serving as an assistant coach for one season. He joined the Beavers' staff after two seasons with the Stanford Cardinal and serving as an assistant at Navy from 2014-18.

Engel, in his third season in Corvallis, helped guide OSU to the Pac-12 team championship, the 24th in program history. Five - Brandon Kaylor (125), Cleveland Belton (141), Matthew Olguin (165), Aaron "Mateo" Olmos (174) and Trey Munoz (184) - won individual titles. Two additional student-athletes - Jason Shaner (133) and Tanner Harvey (197) - clinched berths in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Tournament.

In season two with the Beavers, he helped the Beavers to a 12th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Championships, the program’s best in a decade. OSU had eight wrestlers in Detroit, also their most in a decade, which produced four All-Americans.

Brandon Kaylor (125), Devan Turner (133), Grant Willits (141) and Hunter Willits (157) earned those All-American honors, the program’s most since 1995.

Engel helped the Beavers to a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships in Tempe, Ariz., just half a point out of first.

In Engel’s first season on staff in 2020-21, Oregon State went 4-5 in duals that included wins over Pac-12 foes Cal Poly and Little Rock. Engel earned his first career win while serving as head coach against Cal Poly, 23-17, on Jan. 14.

OSU finished second at the Pac-12 Championships with 123.0 team points, just 15 points behind first-place Arizona State. Engel helped coach Turner (133) and Grant Willits (141) to their second individual Pac-12 Championship titles. He assisted in Hunter Willits (157), Ryan Reyes (184), and J.J. Dixon (197) all earning a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships. Kaylor (125) also earned a top-three finish, third-place, at the Pac-12 Championships.

Six wrestlers -- Kaylor, Turner, Grant Willits, Hunter Willits, Reyes, and Dixon -- qualified for the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the first season with Engel on staff. Beaver wrestlers posted a combined overall record of 88-80 (.524) and 44-46 (.489) in duals. In 2021, OSU went 51-45 in matches decided by decision and 23-16 in major decision matches.

Recognized as an excellent recruiter, Engel landed consecutive top-20 recruiting classes and two recruits ranked first in the nation with the Midshipmen.

"I want to thank Chris Pendleton as well as Oregon State University's athletic director, Scott Barnes, for this opportunity," Engel said. "Chris has a proven record of success in developing athletes and I am looking forward to working alongside of him. Oregon State University has a rich tradition in their wrestling and we have big plans to keep building a powerhouse program in the Pacific Northwest.

Engel has extensive ties with USA Wrestling and currently works with the Beaver Dam Regional Training Center (RTC). He coached the U.S. Junior Greco World Team at the Junior World Championships in Slovakia in September 2018.

In August 2021, Engel served as the personal coach to Adeline Gray at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Engel coached Gray to an Olympic Silver Medal after entering the Olympics ranked No. 1 in the world and coming off of being a five-time world champion who wrestling freestyle at 76kg.

During his first season at Stanford, he helped lead the Cardinal to its first Pac-12 team title. Stanford had two individual champions and sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh.

Engel was an All-American at Missouri Valley College and a four-time NAIA qualifier. An elite senior level competitor, he pursued a Greco career full-time, training at Northern Michigan under Ivan Ivanov.

A two-time member of the U.S. National Team, Engel was the runner-up at the 2013 World Team Trials. He won the 2012 Haparanda Cup and took silver at the 2013 Haavisto Tournament. He was also the Maccabiah Games champion in both Freesyle and Greco-Roman at 55 kg in 2013, while taking home two bronze medals in 2017.

"Speaking with other head coaches across the country, a name kept coming up as someone I should look at immediately and that was Nate Engel," Pendleton said. "I had the pleasure of getting to know Nate and his wife McKayla last fall in Estonia at the world championships, and knew that he was someone I would love to work with one day. His strengths as a recruiter, technician, and mentor is exactly what our program needs."

Additionally, Engel was selected as the 2021 USA Wrestling Women's Coach of the Year and guided Mallory Velte to the 2022 World Bronze Medal.

Career Highlights
USA Wrestling Coach of the Year (2021)
Coached Mallory Velte to World Bronze Medal (2022)
Coached Adeline Gray to a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (2021)
USA Wrestling Greco Roman Coach of the Year (2019)
Maccabi Games Bronze Medals Freestyle and Greco-Roman 57kg (2017)
World Team Trials Qualifier (2014)
Silver Medal 55kg - St. Petersburg, Russia (2013)
Bronze Medal 60kg - St. Petersburg, Russia (2013)
Silver Medal 55kg - Havvisto Tournament (2013)
Maccabi Games Champion Freestyle and Greco-Roman 55kg (2013)
2x U.S. National Team Member (2010, 2013)
7x U.S. Open All-American
Sunkist Kids International Champion and Outstanding Wrestler (2009)
University Greco-Roman National Champion 55kg (2007)
3rd Place NAIA Nationals (2005)
4x NAIA National Qualifier