Lake Erie College recently announced the addition of wrestling and men’s and women’s swimming and diving to the College’s stable of Division II sports.

Kevin Hoogenboom, a former assistant coach at Mercyhurst College, has been named the first head wrestling coach in school history.

"I’m really grateful to President Victor and Griz Zimmermann for this opportunity and I am truly honored to be selected as the first wrestling coach at Lake Erie College," Hoogenboom said through a press release. "Having previously been part of a new program as a student-athlete and then an emerging one as an assistant coach, I am looking forward to building a great program here.

"Kevin has considerable experience at the NCAA Division II level and has helped develop quality student-athletes, both on the mat and in the classroom," said Zimmermann. "We realize there is a real passion and desire on the part of students and parents to compete in wrestling at the collegiate level. Kevin is someone who understands those passions and desires, having not only coached but also been a college wrestler himself, and that will aid him in recruiting quality student-athletes and building a strong wrestling tradition at Lake Erie College."

Hoogenboom was part of the first wrestling recruiting class in Mercyhurst history and after his career ended in 2004, he headed to the bench as an assistant coach under Tony Cipollone. During his tenure, he coached 11 Division II All-Americans and 26 national qualifiers. The Lakers never finished worse than third in the Division II East Regional Championships during his time. As impressively, he coached 26 student-athletes who garnered all-academic team recognition.

The only area athlete on the team that includes the majority freshmen, is Avon Lake’s Kevin Brunner, who was a district qualifier last season.

courtesy of Jason Tirotta, Sports Information & Marketing Coordinator