Women's Wrestling 2/23/2020 7:43:00 PM CU Athletics

Lee Miracle named MSC Women's Wrestling Coach of the Year

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After leading the Lady Tigers to a 10-1 overall duals record, winning the program's second WCWA National Championship and now the second Mid-South Conference crown, head coach Lee Miracle was named the Coach of the Year.

Miracle received the award from MSC Commissioner Eric Ward at Saturday's banquet inside the National Corvette Museum.

"Being named Coach of the Year affirms that the team believes in the process that we are preaching," said Miracle. "It means I have the best assistant coach in the country. It means that my administration believes in me enough to give me the freedom and resources to do what I need to do. It means that I have a wife and kids that support me through it all. It means that God has favored this program from the beginning. It has very little to do with me. It's an award that reflects the university and the program."

It's the second coach of the year honor for Miracle and he's led CU to 14 individual national champions in just seven seasons.

Miracle delivered the program's first team national championship in 2018 after the Lady Tigers earned 196.5 points to win the team title by just five points. He coached his daughter, Kayla Miracle, to her fourth-straight WCWA National Championship and she became just the fourth individual to do so. Grace Bullen also was a national champion during her freshman campaign at Campbellsville.

The 2018-19 season saw more individual accomplishment for the Lady Tigers with four Mid-South Conference Champions, an NAIA National Champion, and the Mid-South Conference Wrestler of the Year. McKayla Campbell won the MSC Women's Wrestler of the Year, Andribeth Rivera was an NAIA National Champion in the Inaugural NAIA Championship event for women's wrestling and the four conference champions included Rivera, Koral Sugiyama, Mariah Harris, and Alexandra Castillo.

In 2019-20, the Lady Tigers won their second WCWA National Championship including three individual national titles - Mariah Harris, Abby Nette, and Alexandra Castillo. Campbellsville ran away with the national title by over 130+ points over Life University, which finished runner-up. CU set a new WCWA record with 13 All-Americans as well.

In his first four seasons at the helm, he has put CU women's wrestling on the map at the national and international level. Campbellsville finished in sixth place in the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) in 2014 and had five All-Americans. In 2015, Miracle led to the program's first-ever individual national championships - Kayla Miracle (136lbs) and Tiaria Scott (191lbs). The Lady Tigers finished with eight WCWA All-Americans and the team also finished WCWA runner-up.

The Lady Tigers backed that up with a fourth-place finish in 2016, while Kayla Miracle and Tiaira Scott both won back-to-back national championships.

During 2017, Miracle guided the Campbellsville to third-place finish at WCWA National Championships where Kayla Miracle won her third national championship and Andribeth Rivera was a national champion for the first time in her career.

A Navy veteran of more than 20 years, Miracle has also spent the last 20-plus years coaching wrestling at all levels. He joined the USA Women's World Team in 2011 as a volunteer coach for the team's trip to the world championships in Hungary and became assistant coach for the 2012 championships in Azerbaijan. In 2017, Miracle coached the Junior World Team in Poland.

He also coached both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as head coach of the All-Navy Team since 2011, a team that features active Sailors within the Navy to compete at the Armed Forces tournament and Military World Championships.

Wrestling runs in the Miracle family. A native of Sidney, Ohio, Miracle wrestled one year at Heidelberg College before joining the Navy. In addition to Kayla, his oldest son, Shawn, was a wrestler at West Point, while his two youngest, Hope (15) and Cale (13), also are active youth wrestlers.

In addition to his national coaching work, Miracle has also worked to begin youth organizations in Indiana and Washington, most recently with the Hoosier Elite Academy in Bloomington, Ind.

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Players Mentioned

Kayla Miracle: Senior; Campbellsville, Ky.

Grace Bullen: Freshman; Fredrikstad, Norway

Andribeth Rivera: Junior; Carolina, Puerto Rico

Koral Sugiyama: Senior; Pocatello, Idaho

McKayla Campbell: Junior; Wauseon, Ohio

Alexandra Castillo: Sophomore; Arleta, Calif.

Mariah Harris: Senior; Johnstown, Pa.

Abby Nette: 5' 3"; Senior; St. Rose, La.

Players Mentioned

Kayla Miracle
: Senior; Campbellsville, Ky.

Grace Bullen
: Freshman; Fredrikstad, Norway

Andribeth Rivera
: Junior; Carolina, Puerto Rico

Koral Sugiyama
: Senior; Pocatello, Idaho

McKayla Campbell
: Junior; Wauseon, Ohio

Alexandra Castillo
: Sophomore; Arleta, Calif.

Mariah Harris
: Senior; Johnstown, Pa.

Abby Nette
: 5' 3"; Senior; St. Rose, La.