App State Wrestling hired Hunter Richard as an assistant coach in Septembrer 2023.
Richard was a two-time NCAA qualifier for a top-10 program at Cornell, with a top-16 finish as a fifth-year senior at 157 pounds to cap the 2021-22 season. He won three matches at the NCAA Championships that year after also qualifying at 149 pounds in 2020 — Ivy League teams didn’t wrestle during the COVID-affected calendar in 2020-21.
Richard joins a program that finished the 2022-23 season with a dual team ranking of No. 20 in the nation, secured a SoCon regular-season title with an 8-0 league record, earned a SoCon sweep by winning the conference tournament and had six wrestlers qualify to compete at the NCAA Championships.
A staff also including assistants Randall Diabe (App State alum who wrestled at 197 pounds) and Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma alum who wrestled at 125 pounds) combined for 343 victories and 11 appearances at the NCAA Championships during their Division I careers.
Richard posted a 67-33 record in four seasons for the Big Red. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Ivy League school and has worked in the financial sector since graduating from Cornell.
He was named to the Academic All-Ivy and EIWA All-Academic teams during his career and also captured an EIWA Academic Achievement Award. His three victories at the 2022 NCAA Championships included back-to-back wins against top-20 opponents.
A native of Barneveld, N.Y., Richard attended Holland Patent High School and was a Fargo, NHSCA and Flo Nationals All-American who posted a 265-26 prep record.