Rich Hasenfus, an 18-year coaching veteran in intercollegiatewrestling, succeeds Dan DiCnzo as the head coach of the Williamsprogram beginning in the fall of 2010. Hasenfus has spent the last13 at Norwich University and previously coached at Harvard andWesleyan.

Two years ago, Hasenfus spearheaded a fundraising initiative thatsaved the wrestling program at Norwich after the administration haddecided to eliminate the program due to lack of funding.

While at Norwich, Hasenfus coached 52 conference placers, nineconference champions, 16 conference finalists, 15 NCAA qualifiers,two All-Americans, 11 Scholar All-Americans and had two wrestlersnamed Outstanding Wrestler of the New England Conference (NEC). Inaddition, he was named NEC Coach of the year in 1998.

“We are thrilled to bring a wrestling coach of Rich’sexperience and level of success to Williams,” Sheehy said.“The program is in terrific hands as we move forward. Havingbeen at Harvard, Wesleyan and most recently Norwich, Rich is wellacquainted with the challenge of being a student-athlete at a smallliberal arts college. We welcome Rich, his wife Jennifer and theirtwo daughters to our community.”

Hasenfus has several ties with Williams wrestling dating back tothe time Roger Caron was the head coach of the Ephs and Hasenfuswas an assistant coach at Harvard. Caron would bring his Eph team,which included New England Collegiate Wrestling Hall of FamerJamaal Pollock, to the Crimson’s facilities to work out andHasenfus would join them. He remained acquainted with the programthrough the coaching tenures of Scott Lewis, Mike Whalen, RafaelVega and DiCenzo.

“This is a great opportunity, and I’m very excited tobe back at one of the top schools in the country,” Hasenfussaid. “I’ve been fortunate in my career to have coachedat some of the finest institutions in the country and I’mobviously aware of Williams’ outstanding academic reputation— and athletic reputation.”

Hasenfus inherits a Williams team that captured the NEWAchampionship in both 2009 and 2010 — the first two NEWAchampionships in the Ephs history – and returns three NewEngland finalists and two NCAA qualifiers.

“The Williams program has obviously had a lot of successover the last three years,” Hasenfus said. “I’mlooking forward to raising the bar and maintaining the high levelof excellence that Williams has ascended to.”

Hasenfus graduated from Springfield College in 1989 with a B.S. inbusiness management.