Men's Wrestling
- Title:
- Head Wrestling Coach
- Email:
- gos2@lehigh.edu
Having rebuilt the Lehigh wrestling program into a national contender in less than five years, the Lawrence White Head Coach of Wrestling Greg Strobel begins his ninth season as the head coach at Lehigh. Strobel was hired in the spring of 1995 and holds the title as the Lawrence White Head Coach of Wrestling at Lehigh.
Regarded throughout the wrestling community as one of the sport’s top ambassadors, Strobel has reached the pinnacle of success at every level of wrestling in which he has competed. This includes his days as an undergraduate at Oregon State where he won two NCAA titles, through his coaching at numerous international levels culminating with his being named as the 2000 United States Olympic Head Coach. Strobel led the 1999-2000 Lehigh team to an EIWA Championship and a seventh place finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships to further cement his reputation as a leader in his field. The past two seasons Strobel led the Brown and White to EIWA Championships, as well as a career-best fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships last season. In addition to the top five finish last year, Strobel coached his first national champion in 2002 as Rob Rohn won the title at 184 pounds.
A skilled and dynamic leader, Strobel’s vast knowledge of the sport is complemented by his deep values in family and his ability to relate to his student-athletes and peers at any level.
“Coach Strobel was great to wrestle for,” says 2000 All-American Travis Doto, ‘00. “He’s not a coach who’s focused only on wrestling, but rather trying to make sure that everyone is growing personally, academically and on the wrestling mat. I think it’s probably hard to find a coach like that in most places. I always felt very reassured with Coach Strobel. I trusted his knowledge and instincts and looking back the trust was well-founded.”
“Coach Strobel has a strong understanding of the sport of wrestling,” 1998 World Team member Steve Marianetti says. “He really has helped me adjust to world level competition. He is able to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each of my opponents.”
“One of Coach Strobel’s best aspects is that he is very adept at picking you apart and then putting together a game plan to be successful,” three-time NCAA Champion T. J. Jaworsky says. “He spends a lot of time looking at videos and is a real student of the sport.”
Strobel earned three Coach of the Year awards following the 1999-2000 season. The EIWA and W.I.N. Magazine honored him for his collegiate success, while USA Wrestling named him the 2000 Freestyle Coach of the Year. He has been honored the last two years by the EIWA as Coach of the Year after leading Lehigh to consecutive EIWA crowns. In the past Strobel was named the 1999 United States Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year, the USOC’s National Coach of the Year in 1998 and the 1997 National Freestyle Coach of the Year in 1997.
At Lehigh, Strobel has led the Mountain Hawks to seven straight winning seasons including a school-record 19 wins in 2000. At the national level Strobel has guided Lehigh to three top-ten finishes in four years, including fourth in 2003 – the school’s best since finishing third in 1979. Overall, Strobel has coached one Lehigh national champion, five Lehigh NCAA finalists, including two last year with Jon Trenge and Troy Letters, 19 Lehigh All-Americans, and 17 EIWA Champions. Just as significantly, Strobel’s Lehigh teams have been very successful off the mat. Strobel’s 1998-99 squad was ranked 8th nationally in the Academic All-American Poll and each year the team is among the highest Lehigh men’s teams in academic standing. The 1999-2000 team was the recipient of the EIWA’s first-ever Team Good Sportsmanship Award.
The 1998-99 team was the first at Lehigh to have all of its NCAA qualifiers (John Van Doren, Ryan Bernholz and Chris Ayres) return to Bethlehem as All-Americans, and was the first to compete in the prestigious National Duals Championships. The 1996-97 squad posted Lehigh’s first-ever win over Northern Iowa and also handed losses to nationally ranked Oregon State and Clarion. The 1995-96 team was the first to beat Clarion and Edinboro. It was also the first team to participate in the prestigious Virginia Duals.
“To make an impact on people’s lives and to watch them improve both on and off the mat in so many different ways is extremely rewarding,” Strobel says. “We teach lifetime good habits in the Lehigh Wrestling program that allow our student-athletes to be successful in anything they do.”
Strobel’s success at Lehigh was only part of the equation that led him to be named as the 2000 United States Olympic Coach in Sydney, Australia. That same year he coached the 2000 United States World Cup team to a championship.
An extremely active coach during the summer, Strobel has coached several World and Olympic champions throughout his career. He coached the Pennsylvania Junior Team for four years (1997-98, 2001-02)) and has given or assisted in countless clinics. The 1996 United States Olympic assistant freestyle wrestling coach and Pan American head coach, Strobel was also an assistant coach of the 1999 Pan-Am team which finished first.
Strobel came to Lehigh after serving as wrestling coach for Team Foxcatcher Inc. (an Olympic-level private club) in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
From 1983-1991 Strobel was the Director of National Team Programs for USA Wrestling, which included a stint as National Freestyle Coach from 1987-88. As liaison on USA Wrestling’s most active committee, Strobel helped to design the policies, procedures, team selection, training and competition for all USA teams including the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic teams. During his time with USA Wrestling, Team USA defeated the then-Soviet Union in three World Cups and the Goodwill Games, while producing more world and Olympic champions than in any other previous comparable period.
From 1981-83 Strobel served as an assistant coach at Oregon State University.
From 1977-1981 he was head wrestling coach at Roseburg (Oregon) High School where he coached several state champions and future NCAA All-American and record holder Jim Baumgartner. A 1975 graduate of Oregon State, Strobel received his bachelor’s degree and master’s in business education.
Strobel earned NCAA titles in 1973 and 1974 while wrestling at 190 pounds and was fifth in 1972. In 1973 he was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. He compiled a daunting 126-8-1 record from 1972-74 and still holds the school record for consecutive wins with 74. Strobel won three Pacific 8 (currently Pacific 10) Conference championships and earned an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholar-Athlete Award in 1975. He was inducted into the school’s athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.
Strobel and his wife Donna have two children, Jennifer, 27, and Christine, 24 and one grandson Mason who was born on August 26, 2001. Jennifer and Christine are both graduates of Lehigh, Classes of 1998 and 2001, respectively. Greg is also an avid fisherman, golfer, and home remodeler.
