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Even before he finished his education at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø, John Hangey ’93, ’97 had developed quite a résumé. A bachelor's degree in history. A master's degree in human services administration. An All-American wrestler. The only Bronc to ever win a Midlands Championship. A graduate assistant under ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Wrestling's legendary head coach, Gary Taylor.

When Bucknell University hired Hangey in 1998 as head coach for its wrestling program, he earned another distinction: He became the first ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø wrestler to graduate from the program and coach at the Division I level. He wouldn't be the last. Today, Hangey is one of a dozen program alumni on staff at D-I institutions up and down the East Coast.

Coaching allows these wrestlers — seven of whom earned All-American status — to pay forward the support they received from mentors who helped catapult them to success and shape a new generation of wrestlers chasing national titles and pursuing All-American status.

"It's fun helping them try to accomplish the goal of becoming an All-American or national champ, and when you do, I don't know if there's a better feeling in the world," says Ethan Laird ’21, ’23, who will begin as an assistant coach at the University of Pittsburgh this fall following two years coaching at the University of Maryland. "You can change their life forever."

Coaching is a natural transition for athletes who sacrificed so much to find success, Hangey says. "Wrestling is a humbling sport, and wrestlers know how hard it is and how hard it is to get to the next level. That's why it's a give-back sport. You remember the people who mentored you. We expect our wrestlers to excel, and when they do, they want to give back."

Giving back is exactly what drove Hangey to return to ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø in 2000 as an assistant coach under Gary Taylor, a mentor who compiled 443 wins during his singular career — the third-most in D-I history. Hangey eventually coached under him for 17 years before being offered the head job entering the 2017-18 season, following Taylor's retirement.

"Everything Gary gave me, I wanted to give back to him, and when I became head coach, I knew it was my turn to do that for others," he says.

The culture Hangey inherited from Taylor and fostered with longtime assistant coach Nic Bedelyon reflects that philosophy. Hangey describes ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's wrestling program as more like a family business than a sprawling corporation, allowing for close relationships that he views as the foundation for ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's success. The program consistently overperforms, including its historic success this spring by winning its first-ever MAC Tournament Championship. The program has produced 22 All-Americans overall, including nine in the past six years.

One of those All-Americans, Chad Walsh ’17, ’18, went on to coach at Davidson and Columbia before being named assistant wrestling coach at Drexel in 2024, where he joined fellow ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø alumnus Mauro Correnti ’17 on the Dragons' staff. Walsh's coaching philosophy bears the fingerprints of that ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø culture.

"ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø continues to produce consistently in a way most Big 10 programs haven't figured out," he says. "There's a quiet process that continues to work at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø. The way that I coach is always evolving, but I've asked myself where I would be if I didn't have coaches like I had at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø that pushed me past my limits — farther than I could have ever pushed myself."

For Hangey, the keys to his winning formula are rock-solid relationships and clear communication, and those don't stop once wrestlers hang up their singlets. He frequently fields calls and texts from his former wrestlers as they navigate their careers at programs such as Lock Haven, Princeton University and the U.S. Naval Academy. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø's small, close-knit program forges tight bonds between wrestlers and coaches that can last years after students graduate.

"ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø is a special place and I don't think people everywhere develop the same bonds we develop at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø," says Laird. "Hangey is a guy with a lot of wisdom to share. I could always ask him for stuff, and Nic is one of the most loyal guys you'll ever meet. We still talk once a week. He does a phenomenal job of bringing out the best version of his wrestlers. They simply don't get the credit they deserve, pumping out All-Americans every year the way they do. What they do with the resources they have exceeds any expectation anyone can have for the team."

For Hangey, watching his athletes evolve into coaches brings a different kind of satisfaction to his job.

"The moment that they accomplish the goals they set for themselves as a competitor, there's not a better feeling than that," he says. "It's an ecstatic feeling on the mat, but seeing them land a job — that's a different kind of pride."