Leaves NDSU after 14 seasons with the Bison

Roger Kish, head coach of the North Dakota State wrestling program for the past 12 seasons, was named head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners on Tuesday, May 2.

Wrestling Head Coach Roger Kish has left NDSU to take the same position at the University of Oklahoma.

         Kish had a 109-69 record in dual meets as the Bison head coach including a 50-30 record in conference duals. Kish spent 14 years with the Bison including two seasons as an assistant coach under Bucky Maughan prior to taking the head coaching position ahead of the 2011-12 season.

            North Dakota State went 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big 12 Conference last season. The Bison earned their highest ranking in school history at No. 15 in the NWCA Coaches Poll and No. 12 in the Intermat rankings. NDSU placed fifth at the 2023 Big 12 championships and 24th at the NCAA Division I national championships with All-America performances from Jared Franek (4th, 157 pounds) and Michael Caliendo (7th, 165 pounds).

Kish’s teams had 54 NCAA championship qualifiers in his 12 seasons as head coach including 21 over his last four seasons. He had six wrestlers advance to earn All-America honors including Trent Sprenkle (2013, 125/5th), Steven Monk (2014, 165/3rd), Kurtis Julson (2015, 174/8th) and Hayden Zillmer (2015, 184/6th).