Year of Service: 33rd
Lehigh University ‘71
Hometown: Drexel Hill, PA
Education: BS, Marketing:
MA, Personnel and Counseling
David Icenhower, a two-time NCAA Division III Coach-of-the-Year honoree, is in his 33rd season at the helm of one of the division’s most successful program. Icenhower has produced five NCAA Division III team championship winners at TCNJ, beginning with the 1979 team, which achieved the first NCAA crown in the College’s history. “Ice” has also piloted the Lions to national titles in 1981, 1983, 1984, and 1987. Under Icenhower, the Lions have finished in the top five nationally during 19 of his 32 seasons, including a third-place finish in 1999 as TCNJ served as the host site for the NCAA Division III Championship.
Two years later in 2000–01, the Lions took fifth place at the NCAA’s after establishing a school record for most wins in a season after a 20-4 dual match campaign. That school record for wins was short lived as the 2003-04 team racked up 21 victories to finish
In, 2004-05 season, the Lions captured the 2005 Metropolitan Conference Championships and capped off the year with a ninth-place showing at the 2005 NCAA Division III Championships after producing a pair of All-Americans and two NWCA Scholar-Athletes.
Icenhower guided TCNJ to another successful campaign in 2005-06 that saw the Lions finish in the top 20 at the NCAA Division III National Championships for the 33rd straight year. The accomplishment proved to be a special one as the Lions did so on their home mat serving as the host of the prestigious event for the fourth time in school history. TCNJ won the Ithaca College and University of Scranton invitationals and also added a pair of second-place finishes at the 2006 Budd Whitehill Division III Duals and the Metropolitan Conference Championships. The Lions also had an All-American raising the total to 132 in the program’s storied history.
The 2006-07 season was an extremely successful one for the Lions as they boasted an impressive 19-1 record in dual meets, including their second title in five years at the Budd Whitehill Division III National Duals. TCNJ also won the Ithaca College Invitational and regained the title at the Metropolitan Conference Championships leading up to the NCAA Championships.
At the 2007 NCAA Division III Championships, the Lions finished in fifth place, which was the top finish of any school from the east, with two grapplers advancing to the finals and boasting three All-Americans. TCNJ also proved just as successful in the classroom as for the first time in program history the team was named at NCAA Division III Wrestling National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar Team. TCNJ was one of 20 institutions to receive the honor as the team’s starting line-up boasted a grade-point-average of 3.205. The Lions also had one individual named to the 2006-07 NWCA Division III Scholar All-America Team making him the 15th student-athlete in the program to receive the honor.
On a personal note, Icenhower garnered his 450th career dual meet win last season as the Lions defeated King’s College 26-15 on November 29, 2006.
Icenhower continued that successful tradition in 2007-08 as the Lions recorded their second straight 19-win season. TCNJ started the season by winning the Ithaca College Invitational for the third straight season and tuned up for the NCAA Championships with their second straight Metropolitan Conference title. The Lions capped the season with two individuals earning All-American honors as the team placed 24th at the NCAA Division III Championships.
A 1971 graduate of Lehigh University and a product of the Division I school’s outstanding wrestling program, Icenhower was twice a member of the NCAA Wrestling Sports Committee and has chaired its Division III subcommittee. He also served two terms on the National Wrestling Coaches Association Board of Directors. In 1986, he served as tournament director for the NCAA Division III Championships, which was hosted by TCNJ. His coaching record in dual meets to date at TCNJ is 484-77-3 (an .862 winning percentage).
The Lions have achieved six undefeated seasons under Icenhower. The 1978–79 team went 15-0 en route to the College’s first Division III title in any sport. The 1980–81 and 1983–84 teams, which posted 17-0 and 14-0 records respectively, also won NCAA crowns. The 1993–94 squad went 16-0, but finished third at the NCAAs after earlier in the year capturing the prestigious Division III Dual Championship. During one three-year stretch between 1979–81, his teams produced a 46-1 record. The 1994–95 Lions went 19-0 in dual meets, while also successfully defending their 1994 Division III Dual Challenge Championship. The Lions won three straight Division III Dual Championships spanning from 1994 to 1996. Ten years ago, the Lions’ dual meet win streak came to end—but not before they had reeled off 54 straight wins (dating back to February 1993)—as did their home dual meet win streak that stood at 27 matches (dating back to December 1990). The Lions’ only loss on the 1995–96 season was a heartbreaking 21-19 decision.
Named the Division III Coach-of-the-Year in 1979 and 1987, Icenhower has produced 72 wrestlers who have combined for 122 All-American honors, including 20 Division III individual champions and one Division I titlist. Under Icenhower, the Lions have also won 26 of the last 31 Metropolitan Conference championships, including 14 in a row from 1984 until 1998. He has been cited as the Met’s Coach-of-the-Year 14 times, including two in a row in 2002 and 2003 and the most recent coming in 2007.
Perhaps his crowning achievement, however, came in 1982 when he became the only Division III pilot to ever be a head coach in the prestigious East-West All-Star Meet. The honor repeated itself in 1997 when Icenhower was once again tapped to serve as a coach for the All-Star Meet, becoming the first Division III coach to serve twice on the staff of the East-West All-Star Meet. At the 1999 NCAA Championships, Icenhower was inducted into the NWCA Division III Hall of Fame and joined an elite club of just four coaches in all divisions that have coached over 100 NCAA All-Americans.
Icenhower’s teams won 10 New Jersey Athletic Conference championships outright and tied for another, posting a 56-5 league mark during that 14-year period (1980–93). In 1988, TCNJ also won the first annual NJAC postseason tournament, which was also hosted by the College.
Icenhower coaches one of the country’s most successful Division III wrestling programs. The Lions have produced 138 All-Americans in NCAA Tournament action, while finishing in the top 25 in each of the 35 years of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Lions’ 1,857.25 points in tournament action ranks among the nation’s elite Division III grappling programs in the history of the tournament.
