Mike McMullan enters his second season as an assistant coach with the Quakers following a collegiate career where he earned four All-American finishes at heavyweight for Northwestern.
McMullan works extensively with Penn's upperweights, including 2016 All-American Casey Kent.
An Easton, Pa. native who wrestled for Wyoming Seminary in high school, McMullan is no stranger to the Pennsylvania wrestling scene. The opportunity to return to his home commonwealth and coach at a prestigious academic and wrestling institution spurned McMullan on to choosing Penn as his first coaching position.
“I am thankful to Alex Tirapelle and the administration at Penn – including Dr. Grace Calhoun and Alanna Shanahan – for the opportunity to coach at the University of Pennsylvania,” said McMullan. “Penn is one of the finest academic institutions in the world with over 110 years of wrestling tradition featuring success not just inside the Ivy League and EIWA but on the national level. I am excited to be able to return to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania where I first fell in love with the sport and help the Quakers in this new era of Penn Wrestling.”
McMullan capped his collegiate career with his fourth All-American finish in 2015 at the NCAA Championships where he finished third at heavyweight. In four trips to the national tournament at Northwestern, McMullan finished on the podium each time – never finishing lower than third. In 2013, McMullan was runner-up at heavyweight after entering the tournament as the No. 5 seed. McMullan graduated from Northwestern as just the third Wildcat to earn All-American status four times during his career.
In 2015, McMullan claimed his first Big Ten championship with a win over Iowa’s Bobby Telford. McMullan placed no lower than fifth at Big Tens during his career, adding a second place finish in 2013.
Overall, McMullan compiled a 103-23 record while at Northwestern, and his .817 winning percentage is ninth all-time at Northwestern. McMullan was selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic three times during his career, including an 8-4 win over N.C. State’s Nick Gwiazdowski in the 2014 All-Star Classic held at The Palestra.
Off the mat, McMullan was named NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Big Ten at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season. He also served as a member of Northwestern’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
In addition to his assistant coaching duties, McMullan has also been accepted into the Master of Science in Criminology program at the University of Pennsylvania.
