Josh Nolan enters his second season as head coach of the Northern State University wrestling program in the fall of 2026. Nolan returned to Northern State as an assistant coach in December of 2024, following a stint with Compound Wrestling Club in McDonough, Georgia. He is the ninth head coach of the Wolves since the inception of the program in 1959.Â
The 2025-26 Wolves went 8-5 overall and 5-5 in league dual action. Northern tallied eight podium finishers from the NCAA Super Region V Tournament including Region Champions Sloan Johannsen (125) and Rudy Lopez (149), as well as third place finisher Griffin Lundeen (157). The trio qualified for the NCAA National Championships where Lopez tallied the first All-American honor of his career taking seventh. In addition, Lundeen was named to the CSC Academic All-District team and the Wolves led NCAA Division II wrestling in GPA with a 3.598 mark.Â
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Nolan spent four years with CMPWC where he coached eight NHSCA All-Americans, one US Open All-American and numerous Georgia State Champions and place winners. From 2019-21, Nolan was with the Silver State Wrestling Academy in Reno, where he produced two USAW All-Americans and one NHSCA All-American.
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From 2016-19, Nolan resided in Beresford, South Dakota working with the Legends of Gold RTC International Development Academy. He coached nine Fargo All-Americans, seven Kids All-Americans, two Fargo National Champions, a UWW Junior Pan Am Champion, and U15 World Bronze medalist with LOG.
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Nolan opened his collegiate coaching career with the Wolves as a graduate assistant from 2012-14. He served as an assistant men’s and women’s wrestling coach at Wayland Baptist University during the 2014-15 campaign, producing nine national qualifiers and seven female All-Americans. The WBU women’s team placed seventh at the WCWA National Championships. Nolan returned to Northern State in 2015-16 as an assistant coach for the Wolves. In his three seasons at NSU, Nolan coached three NCAA qualifiers and NCAA National Finalists and All-Americans Matt Meuleners and Joe Gomez.
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He opened his coaching career at Redwood High School in 2011-12, coaching one California State place winner. Nolan competed collegiately at San Francisco State. For the SFSU Gators, Nolan was a 3-time national qualifier and 3-time All Rocky Mountain honoree. As a team captain in 2011, he earned All-American status at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
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He is the owner/operator of Joshua Nolan Wrestling leading camps and clinics in 17 states across the country. Nolan has accumulated over 40,000 followers on his
Facebook,
YouTube, and
Instagram accounts sharing wrestling techniques, tactics, and mental training. He has partnered with some of the top names in wrestling including Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder.
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Nolan received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Physical Education from San Francisco State and his Master of Science in Sport Performance and Leadership from Northern State. Josh and his wife Theresa will reside in Aberdeen with their four children Jordan, Jakoby, Jax, and Natalie.
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| Josh Nolan Year-By-Year |
|
|
Overall |
Conference |
|
| Year |
School |
W |
L |
W |
L |
Finish |
| 2025-26 |
Northern State |
8 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
6th |
| 2026-27 |
Northern State   |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
| Total |
|
8 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
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