New assistant coaches at Oklahoma, Illinois, Old Dominion and Appalachian State

June 23, 10:45 PMCollege Wrestling ExaminerMark Palmer

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According to the calendar, it’s officially summer. Definitely NOT college wrestling season, but apparently the season for college programs to add to their coaching staffs. Meet some of the latest hires of the past week or so:

Henson new assistant for the Sooners. 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson has joined the coaching staff at the University of Oklahoma as an assistant coach. Henson returns to the Sooners, having served as club coach from 1997-2000.

Most recently, Henson was head assistant coach at Cal Poly the past two years. Prior to that, he has coached at Penn State, the US Military Academy at West Point and the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

“Anybody familiar with wrestling knows Sammie Henson,” said head coach Jack Spates. “A two-time NCAA champion, world champion, world bronze and Olympic silver medalist, Sammie has scaled the heights of success in both collegiate and International wrestling."

As a wrestler at Clemson University, Henson went 71-0 in his junior and season campaigns, claiming two national championships and earning the title of ACC Wrestler of the Year in 1994. As a freestyler, he won more than 15 International titles, most recently a bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships.

Illinois completes its coaching staff. Jim Heffernan, new head coach at the University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana, has hired Jeremy Hunter as an assistant coach, and Mike Poeta as a volunteer assistant coach. They join Carl Perry on the Fighting Illini coaching staff.

Hunter has served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Illini for the past eight seasons, working primarily with the lighter and heavier weights. Before coming to Illinois, Hunter was the NCAA champion at 125 pounds in 2000 and was a three-time All-American at Penn State from 1998-2000. In addition, he was the 1999 Big Ten champion and finished in the top three in each of his four seasons, and was the 2000 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, the conference's Rookie of the Year in 1997.

Poeta recently wrapped up a very successful collegiate career at Illinois, where was a three-time All-American and two-time national finalist. He won Big Ten 157-pound titles in 2008 and 2009, and finished his career with the second-best winning percentage in school history (.882). Poeta is the 10th three-time All-American in school history, and his 2008 campaign in which he went 35-3 ranks eighth in the Illini record books in winning percentage and ninth in wins.

"I am extremely pleased that we are able to announce that Jeremy Hunter will remain on our staff as an assistant coach and Mike Poeta as a volunteer assistant," Heffernan said. "Their knowledge, work ethic and past experience as successful competitors will play important roles in all areas of the program. Jeremy has been an integral part of our success for the past eight years and Mike for the past five years, and they will continue to be very valuable assets to our student-athletes. We are fortunate to have Jeremy and Mike at Illinois."

Luke Smith on board at Old Dominion. Three-time NCAA qualifier Luke Smith of Central Michigan University will be Old Dominion University’s new lightweight coach. Smith is replacing Matt Storniolo who left ODU to pursue other opportunities in collegiate wrestling.

"We are very excited to have Luke join the staff," said the Monarchs head coach Steve Martin. "He's still competing and is currently training for the 2012 Olympics, which offers our lightweight guys a unique opportunity to practice with one of the nation's best. He fills a void we've had for a while and will be a guy who can work with our lightweights on a daily basis."

At CMU, Luke Smith was a two-time Mid-American Conference champion at 125 lbs. He was Co-Rookie of the Year as an NCAA qualifier. In addition, Smith was fourth at the 2006 World Team Trials. He competed at the University World Championships in Mongolia in the summer of 2006 as the runner-up at University Nationals.

Appalachian State adds Sinnot to staff. Appalachian State University wrestling head coach JohnMark Bentley has hired Christian Sinnot as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.

Sinnot comes to the Boone, North Carolina school from Central Michigan, where he was an volunteer assistant coach for the 2008-09 season. He also served as the strength and conditioning coach for wrestling, football, baseball, gymnastics and field hockey in 2008.

During his career on the mat with the Chippewas, Sinnot was a three-time NCAA qualifier, a two-time Mid-American Conference champion and earned All-American honors as a senior. He ranks in the top-15 in school history in career winning percentage and helped lead Central Michigan to back-to-back top-10 national finishes in his junior and senior years.

"I'm very excited about adding Christian to our staff here at ASU," Bentley said. "I believe he will be a tremendous asset to our upper weight classes, and his experience as a competitor and coach will help our program."