Pictured: Four-time Division III national champion Riley Lefever. Graphic and release courtesy of IU Sports Information.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - IU head coach Angel Escobedo has announced the addition of four-time national champion Riley Lefever as an assistant coach for the Indiana wrestling program.
Lefever, who grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, wrestled at Wabash College, where he was a four-time DIII National Champion (three times at 184 and once at 197).
"I'm excited to welcome Riley Lefever to our staff," Escobedo said. "Riley had a tremendous career at Wabash College, becoming only the second wrestler in DIII history to win four NCAA titles. Riley also brings international experience to his resume as he trained at Penn State for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Riley will work with our upper weights and will look to help them achieve their goals on and off the mat."
Lefever posted a 158-6 record at Wabash and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He was a team captain and a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. Lefever earned two NCAA DIII Most Domination Wrestler awards and was also a junior national team member in freestyle.
Lefever graduated from Wabash in 2017 and moved to State College, Pa., to train freestyle with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club for the last five years.
In 2018 he earned the bronze medal at the Dave Schultz International Memorial tournament at 92kg and bronze medal at the Outstanding Ukrainian Tournament. In 2019 he earned third place in the World Team Challenge Tournament.
"My wife and I are very excited to return to the Hoosier state and join the Indiana community," Lefever said. "Angel Escobedo really made this decision easy for my wife and I because of the direction he has the program headed in. I think it is really special that Angel, Jason, and myself are all from Indiana and are now all on staff together. The university and wrestling program has a great group of staff and faculty who are committed to helping the program and the student-athletes achieve success and also create a culture that is comprised of men of character."
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