Wrestling
Stutzman, John
John Stutzman
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- fjs4@buffalo.edu
- Phone:
- 716-645-6876
After a standout career on the mats in Alumni Arena, John Stutzman returned to his alma mater to begin a new era of Buffalo wrestling on May, 8, 2013 when he was named head coach. Stutzman enters his 10th season at the helm of the Bulls wrestling program and UB continues to rise under his direction.
After eight seasons developing Bloomsburg into a national power, Stutzman was named the 15th coach in the 86-year-history of the UB program prior to the 2013-14 campaign. Recent success by the Bulls includes 71 dual wins over the last eight seasons and a MAC Coach of the Year Award for Stutzman following the 2019 campaign.
In 2022-23, the Bulls won eight duals including a 4-3 record in MAC duals. Sam Mitchell finished third at the MAC Championships at 197. Giuseppe Hoose was a national qualifier at 184 lbs.
In 2021-22, the Bulls won 12 duals, tying the most wins since 2004 and went 7-2 in MAC duals, their best record since joining the conference. They placed fourth at the MAC Championships after putting eight on the podium. Three wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships, including John Arceri (149), Michael Petite (157) and Jay Nivison (174). The Bulls finished 14th in final NWCA Mid-Major Poll.
Despite a shortened season due to COVID-19, the Bulls still produced two national qualifiers, marking six straight seasons UB has sent a wrestler to the national tournament. Michael Petite (157) and Sam Schuyler (285) both advanced to the second day of the NCAA Championships.
Despite a very young squad in 2019-20, the Bulls were still able to produce a conference champion and two national qualifiers. Troy Keller repeated as the MAC Champion at 165 lbs., becoming the first 165-pounder in school history to repeat. Derek Spann also qualified for nationals for the second straight season. Both Keller and Spann were named Scholar All-Americans.
In 2018-19, Stutzman led the Bulls to their most successful season since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1998. UB’s 12 dual wins tied the most since 2004 and its five conference wins were the most since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1998. Two Bulls, Troy Keller (165) and Brett Perry (197) were MAC champions. Buffalo produced six national qualifiers, its most since 2011, including Bryan Lantry, UB’s first four-time national qualifier.
Buffalo finished second at the 2019 MAC Championships, its highest finish in program history. Stutzman was named the 2019 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
Bryan Lantry (133) and Jake Gunning (285) each qualified for the 2018 NCAA Championships. Lantry also became the first wrestler in school history to advance to the championship match at Midlands, beating the nation’s second and third ranked wrestlers along the way.
In 2016-17, Buffalo finished with an 11-6 record in duals, the program’s most dual victories since winning 12 in 2004. The Bulls also posted a school-record four Mid-American Conference wins. Jake Gunning won the MAC Championship at 285 lbs. for the Bulls’ first individual champion since 2011. Kyle Akins (125) and Bryan Lantry (133) also qualified for the NCAAs, with Lantry coming within one win of the podium.
During the 2015-16 campaign, Stutzman led the Bulls to a 10-9 record in dual meets. It was UB’s most wins since the 2003-04 season and was one more victory than the previous three seasons combined. Buffalo earned a 19-15 win over 21st-ranked Old Dominion for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2010. The Bulls had three wrestlers qualify for the NCAAs, their most since the 2011 campaign.
Stutzman’s rebuild began to take major strides during the 2014-15 season as the Bulls were able to collect five victories, four more than two seasons prior. The Bulls not only succeeded on the mat for Stutzman in season two but also in the classroom as they ranked as the third most improved team on campus, accumulating a 2.877 GPA to give them nine straight semesters earning over a 2.60 GPA.
In year one at Buffalo, Stutzman made a huge turnaround in the success of the program not only on the mat but also in the classroom. The Bulls closed out the 2013-14 season with three times as many wins as the previous season and had one wrestler, Nick Flannery, qualify for the national tournament.
Stutzman guided the Huskies to a record of 97-56-1 in his eight seasons, putting him third all-time in career wins. The team finished with double-digit wins in six of his eight seasons as head coach. He has coached three NCAA Division I All-Americans, eight Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) champions, 76 EWL place winners and 33 NCAA Division I national qualifiers.
Personally, Stutzman has earned the EWL Coach of the Year honors in 2007, 2010, and 2013, as well as producing the 2007 EWL and PSAC Freshman of the Year; the 2009 EWL Championship’s Outstanding Wrestler and the 2011 PSAC Freshman of the Year.
A 1998 graduate of UB, Stutzman was 95-27 in a three-year career for the Bulls and left as the school’s all-time leader in career wins. His best year for the Bulls was the 1996-97 season when he posted a mark of 35-4, the fourth best single-season winning percentage in program history. Statistically, he is tied with recent graduate John-Martin Cannon for fourth in career takedowns, with 135. He also was a three-time East Coast Wrestling Association place winner.
In 2012-13, Stutzman’s Huskies posted a record of 17-3 claiming the first outright EWL Dual Meet Championships in program history while beating three nationally ranked teams in Maryland, Pittsburgh and Edinboro. The 17 wins are tied for the most in the program’s history. As a team, the Huskies finished ranked 15th in the country by the NWCA. At the EWL Championships, Stutzman led the Huskies to a third place finish overall, with two EWL Champions, while qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
In the 2008-09 season Bloomsburg was third at the EWL championships and had the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler in Matt Moley. At the NCAA Championships, Moley earned All-American honors for the second straight year, the first time since the 1988-89 season that a BU wrestler was All-American in consecutive seasons.
During the 2006-07 season Stutzman earned EWL Coach of the Year honors, after helping Moley earn the EWL and PSAC Rookie of the Year Award and heavyweight Mike Spaid becoming the school’s first All-American since the 1993 season.
Prior to becoming Bloomsburg University’s head wrestling coach, he was an assistant coach for seven years at the Division I level. During those seven seasons, he worked at UB, and at MAC-rival Northern Illinois University before joining Bloomsburg as an assistant.
In addition to his college coaching duties, Stutzman has coached with the New York Athletic Club at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 USA Olympic Freestyle Trials, as well as the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Senior World Team Trials where he has coached Six World Team Trials participants, three Olympic Team Trials participants, and one USA National Team Member. He was also an assistant wrestling coach for the 2009 NWCA All-American tour in Seoul, South Korea.
Stutzman is also a member of the USA Wrestling coaching staff since 2009. He has served as the head coach of the University World Team in Warsaw, Poland; the Ziolkowski International in Spala, Poland; the Stephen Sargsyan International in Armenia; the 2011 Fila Junior World Championships; the Dimtry Korkin International in Yakutsk, Russia and the Ramzan Kadirov Cup in Chechnya, Russia. He also served as an assistant wrestling coach for Team USA for the University Team Championships in Poland in 2009.
Stutzman, a native of New Castle, DE. He and his wife, Annette, have two daughters, Alexa Bryanna and Torin Valera and one son, Paxton.
After eight seasons developing Bloomsburg into a national power, Stutzman was named the 15th coach in the 86-year-history of the UB program prior to the 2013-14 campaign. Recent success by the Bulls includes 71 dual wins over the last eight seasons and a MAC Coach of the Year Award for Stutzman following the 2019 campaign.
In 2022-23, the Bulls won eight duals including a 4-3 record in MAC duals. Sam Mitchell finished third at the MAC Championships at 197. Giuseppe Hoose was a national qualifier at 184 lbs.
In 2021-22, the Bulls won 12 duals, tying the most wins since 2004 and went 7-2 in MAC duals, their best record since joining the conference. They placed fourth at the MAC Championships after putting eight on the podium. Three wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships, including John Arceri (149), Michael Petite (157) and Jay Nivison (174). The Bulls finished 14th in final NWCA Mid-Major Poll.
Despite a shortened season due to COVID-19, the Bulls still produced two national qualifiers, marking six straight seasons UB has sent a wrestler to the national tournament. Michael Petite (157) and Sam Schuyler (285) both advanced to the second day of the NCAA Championships.
Despite a very young squad in 2019-20, the Bulls were still able to produce a conference champion and two national qualifiers. Troy Keller repeated as the MAC Champion at 165 lbs., becoming the first 165-pounder in school history to repeat. Derek Spann also qualified for nationals for the second straight season. Both Keller and Spann were named Scholar All-Americans.
In 2018-19, Stutzman led the Bulls to their most successful season since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1998. UB’s 12 dual wins tied the most since 2004 and its five conference wins were the most since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1998. Two Bulls, Troy Keller (165) and Brett Perry (197) were MAC champions. Buffalo produced six national qualifiers, its most since 2011, including Bryan Lantry, UB’s first four-time national qualifier.
Buffalo finished second at the 2019 MAC Championships, its highest finish in program history. Stutzman was named the 2019 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year.
Bryan Lantry (133) and Jake Gunning (285) each qualified for the 2018 NCAA Championships. Lantry also became the first wrestler in school history to advance to the championship match at Midlands, beating the nation’s second and third ranked wrestlers along the way.
In 2016-17, Buffalo finished with an 11-6 record in duals, the program’s most dual victories since winning 12 in 2004. The Bulls also posted a school-record four Mid-American Conference wins. Jake Gunning won the MAC Championship at 285 lbs. for the Bulls’ first individual champion since 2011. Kyle Akins (125) and Bryan Lantry (133) also qualified for the NCAAs, with Lantry coming within one win of the podium.
During the 2015-16 campaign, Stutzman led the Bulls to a 10-9 record in dual meets. It was UB’s most wins since the 2003-04 season and was one more victory than the previous three seasons combined. Buffalo earned a 19-15 win over 21st-ranked Old Dominion for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2010. The Bulls had three wrestlers qualify for the NCAAs, their most since the 2011 campaign.
Stutzman’s rebuild began to take major strides during the 2014-15 season as the Bulls were able to collect five victories, four more than two seasons prior. The Bulls not only succeeded on the mat for Stutzman in season two but also in the classroom as they ranked as the third most improved team on campus, accumulating a 2.877 GPA to give them nine straight semesters earning over a 2.60 GPA.
In year one at Buffalo, Stutzman made a huge turnaround in the success of the program not only on the mat but also in the classroom. The Bulls closed out the 2013-14 season with three times as many wins as the previous season and had one wrestler, Nick Flannery, qualify for the national tournament.
Stutzman guided the Huskies to a record of 97-56-1 in his eight seasons, putting him third all-time in career wins. The team finished with double-digit wins in six of his eight seasons as head coach. He has coached three NCAA Division I All-Americans, eight Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) champions, 76 EWL place winners and 33 NCAA Division I national qualifiers.
Personally, Stutzman has earned the EWL Coach of the Year honors in 2007, 2010, and 2013, as well as producing the 2007 EWL and PSAC Freshman of the Year; the 2009 EWL Championship’s Outstanding Wrestler and the 2011 PSAC Freshman of the Year.
A 1998 graduate of UB, Stutzman was 95-27 in a three-year career for the Bulls and left as the school’s all-time leader in career wins. His best year for the Bulls was the 1996-97 season when he posted a mark of 35-4, the fourth best single-season winning percentage in program history. Statistically, he is tied with recent graduate John-Martin Cannon for fourth in career takedowns, with 135. He also was a three-time East Coast Wrestling Association place winner.
In 2012-13, Stutzman’s Huskies posted a record of 17-3 claiming the first outright EWL Dual Meet Championships in program history while beating three nationally ranked teams in Maryland, Pittsburgh and Edinboro. The 17 wins are tied for the most in the program’s history. As a team, the Huskies finished ranked 15th in the country by the NWCA. At the EWL Championships, Stutzman led the Huskies to a third place finish overall, with two EWL Champions, while qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
In the 2008-09 season Bloomsburg was third at the EWL championships and had the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler in Matt Moley. At the NCAA Championships, Moley earned All-American honors for the second straight year, the first time since the 1988-89 season that a BU wrestler was All-American in consecutive seasons.
During the 2006-07 season Stutzman earned EWL Coach of the Year honors, after helping Moley earn the EWL and PSAC Rookie of the Year Award and heavyweight Mike Spaid becoming the school’s first All-American since the 1993 season.
Prior to becoming Bloomsburg University’s head wrestling coach, he was an assistant coach for seven years at the Division I level. During those seven seasons, he worked at UB, and at MAC-rival Northern Illinois University before joining Bloomsburg as an assistant.
In addition to his college coaching duties, Stutzman has coached with the New York Athletic Club at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 USA Olympic Freestyle Trials, as well as the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Senior World Team Trials where he has coached Six World Team Trials participants, three Olympic Team Trials participants, and one USA National Team Member. He was also an assistant wrestling coach for the 2009 NWCA All-American tour in Seoul, South Korea.
Stutzman is also a member of the USA Wrestling coaching staff since 2009. He has served as the head coach of the University World Team in Warsaw, Poland; the Ziolkowski International in Spala, Poland; the Stephen Sargsyan International in Armenia; the 2011 Fila Junior World Championships; the Dimtry Korkin International in Yakutsk, Russia and the Ramzan Kadirov Cup in Chechnya, Russia. He also served as an assistant wrestling coach for Team USA for the University Team Championships in Poland in 2009.
Stutzman, a native of New Castle, DE. He and his wife, Annette, have two daughters, Alexa Bryanna and Torin Valera and one son, Paxton.
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