Heil joins Campbell as director of wrestling operations

Campbell University Sports Information

5/19/2018

Dean Heil wrestling Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalisin the NCAA quarterfinals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- Cary Kolat has added even more championship pedigree to his staff, with former NCAA Champion and All-American Dean Heil joining as Campbell's director of wrestling operations.

A former Oklahoma State standout, Heil is a two-time national champion and three-time All-American at 141 pounds. The Brunswick, Ohio native captured back-to-back NCAA titles in 2016 and 2017, as well as three consecutive All-America campaigns from 2015-17.

"I'm really excited to have Dean join us at Campbell," said Kolat, who finished his fourth season as head coach of the Camels in 2017-18. "His brother is already here competing for us, and he's going to add a dimension to our Regional Training Center that we needed. Dean brings a wealth of knowledge, being a four-time state champion from Ohio and a two-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State. He'll also be helping us on staff as our director of operations, and that will be a great role for him as he trains to make an Olympic team."

He finished his decorated career with 116 wins, ranking 22nd all-time in OSU program history.

As a senior in 2017-18, Heil entered the NCAA Championships, his fourth appearance in the tournament, as the No. 6 seed at 141 pounds after helping the Cowboys to their sixth-straight Big 12 title, coming up one win shy of a fourth All-America honor.

Heil capped off his junior season with his second national title, going a perfect 32-0 and adding Big 12 Wrestler of the Year plaudits. He was 32-1 as a sophomore while garnering his first NCAA Championship, and finished fourth overall in the 2014-15 tournament to earn his first All-America honor when he was a freshman.

The 2018 Oklahoma State graduate is also a four-time NWCA All-Academic Team member.

Dean Heil is the older brother of current Campbell sophomore Josh Heil, who won the Southern Conference Championship at 141 pounds as a freshman, earning a berth to the NCAA Championships. Josh redshirted the 2017-18 season.

Heil will also continue to train as a member of the Buies Creek Regional Training Center, splitting time with the Oklahoma RTC, while working towards his Olympic goals.

Comments

tdkplus2 (2) about 7 years ago

I don't know why you guys think that Kolat is god because he's far from that he's a very vindictive person, I wouldn't recommend any kids to go to Campbell University to wrestler. And if any future wrestler thinking about going to Campbell just ask me questions on this post and I would tell you why

Indianatechwarrior (2) about 7 years ago

Whatâ€™s the deal with Kolat? Iâ€™ve heard similar things myself... mentally tears down the kids, lowball offers, only coaches the â€œstudsâ€, and the list goes on

tdkplus2 (1) about 7 years ago

just because he was a good wrestler doesn't make him a good candidate to be a good coach, and everything that you said is very true and there is much more to the whole story than that which I'm not gonna get into, but I do know this I would not send my kid down to wrestle if he was the coach.

Jabr8319 (1) about 7 years ago

tdkplus2 Do tell. What exactly has he done? There are quite a few comments on here putting him down, but from what I have heard, he is a great guy, a great coach, and hasn't done anything to warrant these attacks. I think if you are going to crap on him, at least provide some evidence or insight.

Ryan Mackin OMHS (2) about 7 years ago

I never wrestled for him but when he was running his club in Maryland he had a huge impact on the level of wrestling in the state. I feel like our number of placers at Fargo and team score finish was at an all time high when he was coaching. It was a huge loss when be moved out of state. Again, never wrestled for him personally but all my personal interactions have neen extremely positive and most of the people who were coached by him had nothing but great things to say.

Jabr8319 (1) about 7 years ago

This is honestly the first time I have heard anyone in the wrestling community say a bad word about him. To see the comments about him, with nothing to support them, is pretty disappointing. If you are going to anonymously trash him in a public forum, you should at least say why. Either support the claim, or don't say anything at all. It is cowardly.

tdkplus2 (1) about 7 years ago

Hey I was on his side to at first too. There things that he has done to my boy I'll just mention one, he told me on the phone straight out "you know that I can screw (my boy ) over, and if it comes to it I will ". I'll let Kolat defend himself before I say anything else because I have a lot of other things that he said that was a lie to me and my boy. I know my boy isn't perfect but if you ask there other coaches about him they will all tell you the same thing, I would love to have my whole wrestling team with his work ethic and attitude. He screwed my boy over, paybacks a bitch and I might just post all the Lie, things he did

Jabr8319 (1) about 7 years ago

It sounds like a disgruntled wrestler/parent vs the coach. I sincerely hope that you don't expect anyone to believe that Cary Kolat is a bad coach based on an unsubstantiated claim made by an anonymous poster in a comment section. I have heard countless great things about him, and only 3 negative things, all anonymous and on the internet.