Michigan Man Joe McFarland, the longtime head coach of the Wolverine wrestling program, announced Saturday after the NCAA Wrestling Championship in Cleveland that he is retiring after 19 years as head coach at his alma mater.
"My wife and I had been thinking about the right time for me to step away, and what better place to end my career than in the city where I grew up," said McFarland. "It has been such a wonderful opportunity for me to be a student-athlete at Michigan and then return to coach at my alma mater. It's been a great journey, and I look forward to the next chapter as a Wolverine fan and supporter."
McFarland coached his team to a tie with N.C. State for fourth place at the Division I tournament. Had heavyweight Adam Coon upset Kyle Snyder in the tournament's final match, the Wolverines would have held fourth outright.
The tie for fourth was the team's best finish in 13 seasons.
Michigan finished third, again behind Ohio State and Penn State, at the Big Ten tournament in East Lansing, the team's best conference placing in nine seasons. McFarland's team featured five All Americans and national runners-up Coon and Stevan Micic.
Michigan wrestlers, despite losing to the Buckeyes on their home mat in Ann Arbor at this season's dual meet, and placing well behind the Buckeyes in both postseason tournaments, were a frequent thorn in Ohio State's side this season. Coon's dual-meet upset of Kyle Snyder was practically international news given that it was Snyder's only collegiate defeat in three seasons.
Micic, meanwhile, beat sophomore Luke Pletcher in three out of their four meetings this season, including a semifinal victory that helped put the NCAA team title just out of reach for the Buckeyes. At 157 pounds, Alec Pantaelo defeated Micah Jordan three times this season, including in the finals of the Big Ten tournament and in the fifth-place match at the NCAA Championship last weekend.
McFarland took over the Michigan wrestling program in 1999, and guided the Wolverines to three Big Ten dual-meet championships (2004, '05, '06) and 11 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships (2001-08, '16-18) – including an NCAA runner-up performance in 2005 and the fourth-place tie this weekend.
He ranks third on Michigan's head coaching career wins list (214) behind legendary head coach Cliff Keen (274, 1926-42, '46-70) and his own collegiate coach, Dale Bahr (221, 1979-99).
As a Wolverine wrestler (1981-82, '84-85), McFarland finished 166-24-4 the third-best record in school history, and his 48 wins during the 1983-84 season are the most ever recorded by a Michigan wrestler in a single season.
He is one of only six Michigan wrestlers to finish as a four-time All-American and he was a two-time NCAA finalist at 126 pounds (1984, '85). After a successful international freestyle career, he entered the coaching ranks; during a two-year stint at Indiana, he guided the Hoosiers to their first undefeated season in 44 years, for which he was named the 1990 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
