PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania assistant wrestling coach BJ Futrell is heading home.
 
A former All-Big Ten and All-America wrestler at the University of Illinois, the Chicago native has accepted a job at Northwestern University and will be an assistant coach for the Wildcats. The announcement was made by Northwestern on Monday.
 
Futrell has been an assistant coach with #TheMovement the last two years, after he spent three years competing for the Pennsylvania RTC before retiring from competition in 2019. He also spent time as an active mentor, coach and most recently was the Mentoring Director with Beat The Streets Philadelphia.
 
During his time wrestling with the PRTC, Futrell became the program's first USA National Team member competing successfully domestically and internationally. That included him placing third at the 2017 U.S. World Team Trials and earning a top-10 world ranking in freestyle wrestling at 65 kg.
 
"We appreciate B.J.'s years of service as a Penn Wrestling assistant coach as well as his years as a very successful PRTC athlete," said the Quakers' head coach, Roger Reina. "We wish B.J. and his family all the best as they move back to his hometown of Chicago.
 
"Excitement levels remain high as Penn Wrestling continues to climb nationally. We are already in the process of conducting a national search for this position, and I am confident that the pool of applicants will be exceptional."
 
Penn finished second at the EIWA Championships in 2022 and followed that up with a third-place finish last season. In addition, the Quakers had a record nine wrestlers compete at the 2022 NCAA Championships and eight more at the NCAAs in 2023.