Krenzelak hired as first women’s wrestling coach at W&J
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Former Canon-McMillan head coach Brian Krenzelak has been hired as the first women’s wrestling coach at Washington & Jefferson, the school announced Monday.
The program will begin competition during the 2026-27 school year.
Krenzelak was the 2023 WPIAL Class 3A Coach of the Year. He spent the past two years as head coach of both the boys and girls teams at Canon-McMillan and wrestling coordinator for the school district. Krenzelak resigned in June after 27 years of coaching in the Canon-McMillan program.
“To be chosen as the inaugural head coach of Washington & Jefferson College’s first women’s wrestling team is a humble honor,” Krenzelak said in a news release. “I look forward to working with this team and becoming a part of the rich history of this prestigious institution.
“The opportunities for women’s wrestling, the fastest-growing sport in colleges and universities across the country, are endless at the college level due to the marriage of the great wrestling traditions of the region and the setting of one of the oldest and most distinguished colleges in the United States.”
Krenzelak began his coaching career with the Canon-McMillan program as an assistant when he was 20 years old and guided the junior high program for 21 seasons. He turned down head coaching opportunities at other schools to stay with his alma mater and was hired as the Big Macs’ varsity head coach in the summer of 2021.
Krenzelak guided Canon-McMillan to the WPIAL team title in 2023. Canon-McMillan placed fourth at the state dual-meet tournament that year.
He was instrumental in starting the girls program at C-M and was in the corner when Val Solorio won the first PIAA championship for girls last season at the Giant Center in Hershey. The Big Macs also went on to win the team title at the first sanctioned girls state tournament.
Krenzelak was a pivotal part of the Canon-McMillan girls wrestling program coming to fruition, as from 2022-23 he managed the girls wrestling club team prior to it becoming a sanctioned PIAA sport. During the 2023-24 season, Krenzelak oversaw a staff of 14 coaches from the middle to high school levels. He also took the lead on communication between prospective athletes and college programs.
“As we start the journey to add women’s wrestling as an NCAA varsity sport at W&J, I don’t think we could have found a better head coach to start our program than Brian,” W&J athletic director Scott McGuinness said. “He is an accomplished leader and motivator who will bring integrity and a passion for the sport to our athletic department. Brian is eager to get rolling and we are excited to find talented student-athletes who want to be pioneers for this rapidly-growing collegiate sport here at Washington & Jefferson.”
Krenzelak has a career coaching record of 276-18 with 18 team section championships, 28 junior individual state champions and three girls state champions.