Coach Ayres has been involved in Division I wrestling for over 20 years, first, as an athlete and assistant coach at Lehigh University, where the program finished as high as 3rd at the NCAA DI National Tournament, and as the head coach of Princeton University, where he has led the team to a ranking as high as a 5th in the nation. Under Coach Ayres’ guidance Princeton also won its first Ivy League title in over 30 years in 2020 and it’s first NCAA champion in 56 years. Princeton had 11 All-Americans in the last four season Princeton was led by Coach Ayres. He is now the head coach at Stanford University where the team finished 16th at the 2024 NCAA championships with two All-Americans. Here you can find information relating to Coach Ayres, Princeton Wrestling, and wrestling in general. Enjoy!
Other Highlights:
At Stanford:
- 16th at 2024 NCAA Championships (2 All-Americans)
- Finished 2025 dual meet season ranked 18th
- 2024 Midlands Team Champions
- 2023 Southern Scuffle Team Champions
Princeton Wrestling program highlights under Coach Ayres:
• won the Ivy League title in 2020 for the first time since 1986 and ended Cornell’s 92-match, 18-year Ivy League winning streak
• Princeton placed 15th at the 2019 NCAA Championships and had a program-record three All-Americans (Patrick Brucki, 4th, Patrick Glory, 6th, Matthew Kolodzik, 5th)
• Matthew Kolodzik earned a third-place finish at the 2018 NCAAs, a journey that saw him defeat the #2, #3, #4 and #6 seeds along the way
• sent Brett Harner to the 2016 All-America podium, ending a 13-year drought without an All American
• sent a program-record seven to the NCAA Championships (2017)
• placed in the Top 5 at EIWAs annually from 2016-20 (third in 2017, 2018, 2019)
• won eight EIWA individual titles, all since 2016 (Harner, 2016; Jordan Laster, 2017; Kolodzik, 2017, 2018 & 2020; Patrick Glory, 2019 & 2020; Patrick Brucki, 2019)
• won three individual Midlands titles, all since 2019 (Brucki, Kolodzik in 2019, Glory in 2020) and placed fifth overall in 2019 and 2020; the first Midlands titles and best team finishes in event history
• earned EIWA Co-Head Coach of the Year honors (2017)
• earned Ivy League Coach of the Year honors (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
• had the program’s first-ever Hodge Award finalist (Patrick Glory, 2020)