With year number four, the direction of the Cardinal Culture wrestling program is pointed upward under founding Wheeling Jesuit head coach Sean Doyle.
After three solid foundation years, the inaugural WJU wrestling coach continues to build one of the top NCAA Division II Atlantic Region programs.
Over those first three campaigns, Doyle has grown the roster to over 49 wrestlers. Doyle’s Cardinals continued their increase in NCAA DII Championships qualifiers with four and received an invitation to the 2015-16 National Wrestling Collegiate Association’s National Duals as one of the top 16 programs. The young program was the lone collegiate wrestling program to qualify three true freshmen and earned the first All-American for the 2014-15 NCAA Championships.
"We're entering year four and in a position to make a great jump in our progression as a program. Our focus every day is on improving and getting better as a person,” said Doyle. “Our improvements can be made in the classroom, in the community, in the workplace, as a wrestler or in any number of areas, but we have to be sure that we are getting better as an individual every day. If we're doing that, we can be certain that our wrestling goals of becoming a National Championship team will get closer to becoming a reality."
In the third year, WJU set its dual match win mark again with an 11-6 overall record and second winning record in a row. Each of the Cardinals’ dual match losses came to nationally ranked opponents including three close defeats at the National Duals to Upper Iowa, Findlay and Indianapolis. The Cardinals sent a program best four wrestlers to the National Championships – Nolan Whitely (133) for his second time and Dominick Nania (149), Sawyer Leppla (184) and Logan Bowman (285) all for their first trips. WJU dominated the Washington & Jefferson Invitational for the team title and posted dual victories over West Liberty, East Stroudsburg, Gannon and Seton Hill.
The second season for Doyle’s Cardinals produced the program’s first winning dual season record of 9-4, which included a 25-6 home victory over rival West Liberty and first shutout (a 52-0 win over Mount Saint Vincent), and its second West Virginia Collegiate Open championship. The team sent three freshmen – Dustin Warner (125), Nolan Whitely (133) and Preston Bowshier (141) – to the NCAA Division II National Championships. Warner wrestled his way to fifth place and became the first Cardinal All-American.
In the first campaign, WJU set the program’s tone with a quality 6-7 dual match record and claimed the inaugural West Virginia Collegiate Open team title. Individually on a team filled with freshmen, the Cardinals placed two wrestlers – Ryan Winslow and Sawyer Leppla – finish in the region’s top six.
A native of Wheeling, Doyle graduated from Cornell University in 2001 with a bachelor of science in applied economics and business management with a concentration in communications. He was a three-year starter for the Big Red under Head Coach Rob Koll, and a member of two Ivy League championship teams.
Doyle placed fourth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) in 2000 as a 133-pound wrestler. He finished his Big Red career with a 36-23 record with four falls including a 20-13 record for the 1999-2000 season.
He trained with past and future Olympic athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and assisted Coach Koll with wrestling camps.
In 2005, Doyle began his coaching career at Wheeling Central High School in Wheeling, W.Va. He spent two seasons at Wheeling Central, and elevated the Maroon Knights wrestling program to a Top 15 ranking in West Virginia (2007). During the 2006-07 season, he coached two undefeated individual state champions.
After the 2006-07 season, Doyle was named head coach at Wheeling Park High School, where he led the Patriots for five seasons (2007-12). During his tenure, Wheeling Park finished in the Top 5 of the state tournament four-out-of-five years, garnering two runner-up trophies. He earned the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award twice, and in 2008, was named West Virginia Coach of the Year. Doyle coached seven individual state champions, and currently has two former wrestlers starting at the NCAA Division I level.
Doyle graduated from Buckeye Local High School in 1997, and was born and raised in Wheeling by his mother, Cindy, and father, Dan. He has two sisters, Erin and Megan.
Doyle and his wife of five years, Amber, who reside in Wheeling, are the proud parents of their son Jacoby (3) and daughter Lucy (1).
