Chris Ayres, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach, was appointed the 32nd head coach in Stanford history on September 11, 2023. He enters his first season with the Cardinal in 2023-24, and his 18th overall as a collegiate head coach.
A four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, Ayres spent 17 seasons at the helm of the Princeton program. With a career record of 93-168, he built the Princeton program into a conference and national contender. Among the many achievements, Ayres produced just the second individual national champion in Princeton history (it’s first since 1951), the program’s first and second four-time All-Americans, and its first Ivy League championship since 1986.
During Ayres’ tenure, the Tigers had their first NCAA finalist since 2002, producing two in the same season in 2022. They qualified a program-record seven wrestlers to the 2017 NCAA Championships, and, in 2019, had a program-record three All-Americans. In 2023, Princeton was 13th at the NCAA Championships – the highest in program history and its 10th top-25 finish all-time.
Under Ayres, the Tigers won 10 EIWA individual titles, all since 2016, and placed in the top 5 at EIWAs (when competing) from 2016-22. Princeton has earned 48 bids to the NCAA Championships since 2010.
A former EIWA champion and two-time recipient of Lehigh's "Outstanding Athlete" honor during his undergraduate career, Ayres spent five years as an assistant for the Mountain Hawks before taking over at Princeton.
While at Lehigh, Ayres established a new school record with 120 career victories, and in 1998, he amassed the most wins in a single season for a Lehigh wrestler with 39. He won the 150-pound EIWA championship as a junior and earned All-America honors at 157 pounds as the NCAA sixth-place finisher during his senior season.
Ayres earned his undergraduate degree in marketing and his master’s in elementary education at Lehigh in 2001. He and his wife, Lori, have a daughter Chloe, a member of the Princeton wrestling Class of 2025, and a son, Atticus.
A four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, Ayres spent 17 seasons at the helm of the Princeton program. With a career record of 93-168, he built the Princeton program into a conference and national contender. Among the many achievements, Ayres produced just the second individual national champion in Princeton history (it’s first since 1951), the program’s first and second four-time All-Americans, and its first Ivy League championship since 1986.
During Ayres’ tenure, the Tigers had their first NCAA finalist since 2002, producing two in the same season in 2022. They qualified a program-record seven wrestlers to the 2017 NCAA Championships, and, in 2019, had a program-record three All-Americans. In 2023, Princeton was 13th at the NCAA Championships – the highest in program history and its 10th top-25 finish all-time.
Under Ayres, the Tigers won 10 EIWA individual titles, all since 2016, and placed in the top 5 at EIWAs (when competing) from 2016-22. Princeton has earned 48 bids to the NCAA Championships since 2010.
A former EIWA champion and two-time recipient of Lehigh's "Outstanding Athlete" honor during his undergraduate career, Ayres spent five years as an assistant for the Mountain Hawks before taking over at Princeton.
While at Lehigh, Ayres established a new school record with 120 career victories, and in 1998, he amassed the most wins in a single season for a Lehigh wrestler with 39. He won the 150-pound EIWA championship as a junior and earned All-America honors at 157 pounds as the NCAA sixth-place finisher during his senior season.
Ayres earned his undergraduate degree in marketing and his master’s in elementary education at Lehigh in 2001. He and his wife, Lori, have a daughter Chloe, a member of the Princeton wrestling Class of 2025, and a son, Atticus.