Casey Cunningham is in his 15th year on the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling staff. Named head assistant coach by Cael Sanderson in April 2009, Cunningham is in his 24th year as a collegiate coach.
During Cunningham’s years at Penn State, the Nittany Lions have won ten NCAA titles, seven Big Ten titles, nine Big Ten regular-season crowns, eight Southern Scuffle titles and produced 83 All-Americans and 34 NCAA Champions. He was the USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach of the Year in 2018.
Cunningham served as Cael Sanderson’s head assistant coach at Iowa State as well. Prior to his one-year stint in Ames, he was head assistant coach at Central Michigan for seven years (2001-08). He began his coaching career in 1999 as a graduate assistant at CMU and then spent a year at the Olympic Training Center. During his tenure at CMU, he helped lead 18 Chippewas to All-American honors and 35 Mid-American titles. During Cunningham’s last season as an assistant, Central Michigan finished seventh at the 2008 NCAA Championships.
As a wrestler, Cunningham is among Central Michigan’s all-time greats. He capped off his collegiate career in 1999 by winning the 157-pound title in the Bryce Jordan Center, earning the school’s first Division I national title and only the second individual title in the school’s history in any sport. The two-time All-American (national runner-up in 1998) won three MAC championships (1996, 1997, 1999) and was twice named MAC Wrestler of the Year (1998, 1999). Cunningham finished his Chippewa career with a 134-19 record. An accomplished international competitor, Cunningham won the 2008 Pan American Games silver medal and was two time U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials runner-up. An outstanding student, Cunningham was a four-time NWCA Academic All-American.
Cunningham earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology with an emphasis in criminal justice from CMU in 1999. His wife, Tara (Nott), is an Olympic champion, having won the gold medal in weight lifting at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The couple has three sons, Hayden, Asher and Ryder and two daughters, Saige and Sterling.