Tom Shifflet enters his fourth season as head wrestling coach at UNC Greensboro. Shifflet was named the new head wrestling coach for Spartans on May 17, 2002, after five successful seasons as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at
Cornell University.
Last season, Shifflet guided UNCG to the most wins in school history as the Spartans recorded a 12-5 overall record, 4-1 in the Southern Conference. For the second consecutive year, Shifflet and UNCG produced the SoCon Freshman of the Year as Joe Kemmerer earned the award following a 31-7 season. Kemmerer, along with teammates Daren Burns and Joe Lowe, each won their respective weight class at the Southern Conference Mat Jam and qualified for the NCAA Tournament under Shifflet’s direction.
The 2003-04 season was a breakthrough year as the Spartans claimed their first winning season since the 1998-99 campaign. The nine dual wins, an improvement of eight from the previous season, ranks as the second most in the program’s 11-year history. Shifflet guided a young Spartan team to wins over ACC foes North Carolina, Duke and Maryland. Two of his recruits, Kevin Artis (141 lbs.) and Daren Burns (197 lbs.) were conference champions in their respective weight classes. Burns was also named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.
Shifflet’s first campaign at the helm of the Spartan wrestling team was marred by several close defeats translating into just one win in 2002-03. However, the team proved to be a formidable opponent nearly pulling out victories against Campbell, Old Dominion and Duke. The team’s lone victory came in a 32-9 pounding of Southern Conference rival Davidson.
In 2003, Shifflet managed to sign one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. The class, which included one High School All-American, four Honorable Mention High School All-Americans and seven state champions, received an honorable mention based on InterMat’s 2003 final rankings.
During his tenure with the Big Red, Shifflet coached 24 NCAA qualifiers, three NCAA All-Americans and helped Cornell to a pair of Ivy League championships (1999 and 2001). The Big Red was also consistently ranked among the nation’s top-15 programs.
Shifflet was also instrumental with the success of their student-athletes off the mat as well. Cornell’s wrestling squad carried a 3.1 grade point average this past fall which ranked eighth nationally.
As a student-athlete, Shifflet was a four-time national qualifier, three-time All-American and registered 118 wins for national powerhouse Edinboro University from 1992-1995. Competing at 142 pounds, he finished seventh at nationals as a freshman, sixth as a sophomore and third as a senior.
A native of Amherst, NY, Shifflet graduated from Edinboro University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education.
