Wyatt Turnquist enters is secon year and first as the full time assistant with Northern State wrestling in the fall of 2026.
In his first season with the Wolves, Northern posted an 8-5 dual record and sixth place finish in the NSIC. NSU took fourth at the NCAA Super Region V Tournament, with three wrestlers qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Rudy Lopez ultimately placed seventh, earning NCAA All-American accolades. Turnquist assisted with all aspects of the program including practice planning, competition preparation, recruiting, compliance, and instruction.
The South Dakota native opened his coaching career in 2021 as a youth wrestling coach and camp clinician. He is a USAW bronze level coach, leading teams at the Heartland National Duals and Fargo Nationals with the South Dakota USA Wrestling program. He serves as the 16U/Junior Duals team coach for SDUSA Wrestling.
Since March of 2021, Turnquist has hosted over 75 wrestling camps across the United States as the head technician with duties including wrestling skills, mindset techniques, and relationship building with youth athletes and coaches in the sport of wrestling.
In April of 2024, Turnquist kicked off the Wise Beyond the Ears Podcast, spreading wrestling knowledge across social media platforms. As the host of the show, he has interviewed multiple NCAA Champions, Olympians, and world-level wrestlers.
Turnquist earned a bachelor's degree in general studies and master’s degree in sports performance and leadership while competing at Northern State. At NSU, he accumulated over 100 career victories, including four 20-plus win seasons. He is one of just two Wolves to be a 4-time NSIC All-Conference performer in the NCAA Division II era. Turnquist was a 2-time NCAA National Qualifier and NCAA All-American at 149-pounds. Off the mat, he earned five NWCA Scholar All-America Awards, four NSIC All-Academic team selections, two CSC Academic All-District nods, one CSC Academic All-American honor, is a member of the NSIC Myles Brand Award list, and was a 2-time nominee for the NSIC Britton Award. He capped off his Northern State career as the 2025 Clark Swisher Award recipient.
