Rob Koll, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach, was appointed the 31st head coach in Stanford wrestling history on May 29, 2021. He enters his third season with the Cardinal in 2023-24, and his 31st overall as a collegiate head coach. He boasts a career record of 328-112-5.
In two seasons under Koll, Stanford has produced three All-Americans, three individual Pac-12 champions, one Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 11 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, two College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans and 23 Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections.
Koll guided Stanford to a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships in 2023, hosted at Maples Pavilion. Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year Daniel Cardenas (157) became just the ninth Cardinal freshman to win an individual conference title. At the national tournament, Shane Griffith (165) placed fifth to secure his third career NCAA All-America honors - just the third Cardinal wrestler to accomplish that feat.
With Koll at the helm, Cornell won 20 Ivy League and 11 EIWA titles, crowned 16 NCAA champions and produced 71 All-Americans, 177 NCAA qualifiers and 66 individual EIWA champions.
Cornell's all-time wins leader, Koll helped the Big Red crown at least one individual NCAA champion in 10 of the last 12 years (prior to 2020-21) and had a finalist every year during that span. Cornell twice finished as team runner-up at NCAAs and has eight top 5 finishes. Cornell and Iowa are the only schools in the country to finish in the top 10 nationally every year since 2008 (Ivy League school did not participate in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
For 17 consecutive seasons, at least three Big Red wrestlers reached the All-America podium. Koll qualified at least one wrestler to the NCAA championships in each of the 27 seasons the team competed, including sending a school-record nine to the national tournament six times.
Prior to being named the head coach at Cornell, Koll spent four seasons as an assistant with the Big Red from 1989-93.
Koll graduated in 1989 from North Carolina with a degree in communications. He set the standard for excellence in Chapel Hill, winning a national title at 158 pounds in 1988. He finished his collegiate career as the winningest wrestler in school and ACC history with a 150-20-1 record. He was the Tar Heels's first four-time All-American and second wrestler in program history to win a national championship.
Continuing his competitive career following graduation, Koll wrestled in the 1990 and 1993 World Cup, winning his weight class on both occasions. He also served as an alternate on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team. A 1992 World Cup Grand Prix champion, he finished fifth at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and was the 1989 Pan Am Games champion. He won national freestyle titles in 1990 and 1991, and was the runner-up at the 1989 Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City.
Koll and his wife, Rachel, have two sons, William and Daniel, who both wrestled for the Big Red.
In two seasons under Koll, Stanford has produced three All-Americans, three individual Pac-12 champions, one Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 11 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, two College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans and 23 Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections.
Koll guided Stanford to a runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships in 2023, hosted at Maples Pavilion. Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year Daniel Cardenas (157) became just the ninth Cardinal freshman to win an individual conference title. At the national tournament, Shane Griffith (165) placed fifth to secure his third career NCAA All-America honors - just the third Cardinal wrestler to accomplish that feat.
In his first year on The Farm, the Cardinal secured a top-20 finish at the national tournament and produced multiple All-Americans in the same season for the first time since 2016. Griffith (165) and Real Woods (141) reached the semifinals at the NCAA Championships - the first time the Cardinal had multiple wrestlers in the semifinals in the same season. Griffith was the national runner-up, becoming just the second two-time finalist in program history.
Stanford was 5-4 overall in 2021-22, including 3-2 in Pac-12 duals. The Cardinal placed third as a team at the Pac-12 Championships as Woods (141) and Tyler Eischens (174) won individual titles.
With Koll at the helm, Cornell won 20 Ivy League and 11 EIWA titles, crowned 16 NCAA champions and produced 71 All-Americans, 177 NCAA qualifiers and 66 individual EIWA champions.
Cornell's all-time wins leader, Koll helped the Big Red crown at least one individual NCAA champion in 10 of the last 12 years (prior to 2020-21) and had a finalist every year during that span. Cornell twice finished as team runner-up at NCAAs and has eight top 5 finishes. Cornell and Iowa are the only schools in the country to finish in the top 10 nationally every year since 2008 (Ivy League school did not participate in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
For 17 consecutive seasons, at least three Big Red wrestlers reached the All-America podium. Koll qualified at least one wrestler to the NCAA championships in each of the 27 seasons the team competed, including sending a school-record nine to the national tournament six times.
Prior to being named the head coach at Cornell, Koll spent four seasons as an assistant with the Big Red from 1989-93.
Koll graduated in 1989 from North Carolina with a degree in communications. He set the standard for excellence in Chapel Hill, winning a national title at 158 pounds in 1988. He finished his collegiate career as the winningest wrestler in school and ACC history with a 150-20-1 record. He was the Tar Heels's first four-time All-American and second wrestler in program history to win a national championship.
Continuing his competitive career following graduation, Koll wrestled in the 1990 and 1993 World Cup, winning his weight class on both occasions. He also served as an alternate on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team. A 1992 World Cup Grand Prix champion, he finished fifth at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and was the 1989 Pan Am Games champion. He won national freestyle titles in 1990 and 1991, and was the runner-up at the 1989 Olympic Festival in Oklahoma City.
Koll and his wife, Rachel, have two sons, William and Daniel, who both wrestled for the Big Red.
Honors & Accomplishments
- NWCA National Coach of the Year (2005)
- Dan Gable National Coach of the Year (2005)
- EIWA Coach of the Year (2007, 2010, 2011, 2017)
- Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- New York State Coach of the Year (1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012)
- Cornell and Ivy League's all-time winningest wrestling coach (317-101-5)
- Most Ivy League dual meet wins in conference history (125-9-1)
- Longest conference winning streak in team sports history (92 matches)
By The Numbers
- 1 Hodge Award Winner
- 1 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
- 9 EIWA Freshmen of the Year
- 1 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year
- 11 EIWA Wrestlers of the Year
- 11 EIWA championships
- 12 New York State Intercollegiate Championships
- 13 Ivy League Rookies of the Year
- 15 top 10 NCAA team finishes
- 15 Ivy League Wrestlers of the Year
- 16 individual NCAA champions
- 20 Ivy League titles
- 24 individual NCAA finalists
- 66 individual EIWA champions
- 3 individual Pac-12 champions
- 74 NCAA All-Americans
- 70 individual New York State Intercollegiate champions
- 113 first-team All-Ivy League selections
- 185 individual NCAA qualifiers