Roger Kish is an American

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and the current head coach of the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

wrestling team. A native of

Lapeer, Michigan Lapeer ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions w ...

, Kish was a four-time Michigan state wrestling champion. Kish is currently tied for ninth all time on the Michigan high school single season win record lis

He is second all time on the MHSAA career wins compiling a record of 252-

Kish went on to become only the 11th four-time champion in MHSAA histor

His performance in 2003 earned him the Schalles Award#Junior Schalles Award winners, Junior Schalles Award for top high school pinner. He next wrestled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, compiling a career record of 117-27. As a sophomore and a junior in college, he finished 2nd at the national tournament. After leaving the University of Minnesota, Kish became an assistant wrestling coach at North Dakota State University. He was hired as the head coach at North Dakota State in 2011 and became the youngest NCAA Division I head coach in any sport. Prior to Oklahoma, Kish was the head coach of the North Dakota State Bison wrestling program from 2012 to 2023, just a few years after NDSU became eligible for Division I competition. During his tenure, six wrestlers earned All-American status.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people North Dakota State Bison wrestling coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestlers People from Lapeer, Michigan {{US-wrestling-bio-stub