MEET THE COACHES

Cory Wallman

Cory Wallman is the Founder, Chief Operating Officer and Head Coach of the Badger Wrestling Club, Inc. His club responsibilities involve daily operations including coaching, travel, events and fundraising.

"We need to provide our athletes in the Badger Wrestling Club, Inc. with the proper guidance, daily training and funding to excel at the highest level to compete with the best athletes in the world."

Wallman is the current Volunteer Coach for the University of Wisconsin Wrestling Program. His main responsibilities include working with UW's middle-weight wrestlers and heading the development program of the younger athletes. Prior to being the Volunteer Coach, Wallman served as a full-time Badger Assistant from 2002-06 until the addition of Donny Pritzlaff to the UW staff in 2006.

As an athlete, Wallman was a 2000 NCAA All-American at 157 lbs. his senior year with a fourth place finish in St. Louis, MO. Originally from Freeman, S.D., Wallman was a four-time state champion with a 186-1 record in four years of high school and was also a National High School Champion.

Wallman earned a degree in business management from the University of Wisconsin in 2000 and lives in Madison.

Lee Kemp

Lee Kemp was recruited to the University of Wisconsin by former Head Coach Duane Kleven and Assistant Coach Russ Hellickson. Kemp was a four-time NCAA finalist and three-time NCAA Champion at 158 pounds. He closed his UW career at 143-6-1, with victories in 87 consecutive matches and an unbeaten string of 103 in a row. Kemp is considered one of Wisconsin's all-time greatest athletes.

On the international stage, Kemp was a three-time World Champion. On August 27, 1978, in his first international tournament, just two months after completing his senior year of collegiate competition for the University of Wisconsin, Kemp defeated Alexander Nanev of Bulgaria in Mexico City and won his first World Freestyle Championship. At the age of 21 years and 8 months, he had become the youngest American to capture a gold medal and held that distinction for 30 years until Henry Cejudo won the Olympic Gold Medal in the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in August of 2008. He repeated as World Champion in 1979 and 1982, becoming the first American to win three World Titles. He also added a World Bronze Medal in 1981.

Kemp earned a berth on the 1980 Olympic Team, and was an overwhelming favorite for the Gold Medal in Moscow, until President Carter's boycott. Lee, however, did defeat the 1980 Olympic Champion from Bulgaria, in a subsequent competition called the 1980 Super Champions Title Match, held in Nagoya, Japan. Kemp placed second in the Olympic trials of 1984 and retired from competition to pursue a business career. Kemp is one of the most decorated wrestlers in any era and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on February 11, 1990.

Barry Davis

Barry Davis is in his 15th season as the Head Coach of the University of Wisconsin Wrestling Program. Under Davis, Wisconsin has produced six individual Big Ten titles.

19 of Davis' wrestlers have earned All-America honors, while two have claimed NCAA titles. Donny Pritzlaff won back-to-back national championships in 2000 and 2001 and Jeff Walter won the 1996 heavyweight title. As a collegian at the University of Iowa, Davis was a four-time All-American and a three-time NCAA Champion. Davis graduated in 1985 with a career record of 162-9-1 (.945). He still holds school records for wins in a season (46) and career wins (162). Following the 1985 NCAA Championships, Davis was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament. Davis was also honored as the Big Ten's Athlete of the Year, one of only two wrestlers to win the prestigious award.

As an international wrestler, Davis earned a Silver Medal (125.5 pounds) at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Davis was also a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team that competed in Seoul, South Korea. He attempted to make his third Olympic team in 1992, but was eliminated at the U.S. Trials. Davis was also a runner-up at the 1987 World Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France to "Russian Great" Sergey Beloglazov.

Donny Pritzlaff

Donny Pritzlaff, a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, is in his third season as an assistant with the Badgers. His main responsibilities include working with the UW's middle-weight wrestlers, while his off-mat duties include recruiting and daily practice instruction. Pritzlaff was the chief facilitator of Wisconsin's 2008 recruiting class that ranked fourth nationally.

Prior to joining UW, Pritzlaff was an Assistant Coach at Hofstra University under Head Coach Tom Ryan for three years. In 2005-06, the Pride qualified eight wrestlers for the NCAA Championships and won their fifth-consecutive Colonial Athletic Association Title.

As a Badger wrestler, Pritzlaff was a three-time Big Ten Champion (1999-2001), a two-time NCAA Champion (2000 and 2001) and a four-time All-American at the 165 lbs. weight class. His career winning percentage of .894 (135 wins, 16 losses) stands as the second best in program history, while his 135 career wins ranks fourth.

On the international stage, Pritzlaff was a 2006 U.S. Open Champion. That same year he captured the top spot at the U.S. World Team Trials and earned a Bronze Medal at the World Championships in Guangzhou, China. Pritzlaff was a multiple-time placer at the U.S. Open & U.S. World Team Trials and was also a 1998 Junior World Champion.

Bart Chelesvig

Bart Chelesvig is in his 15th season as an Assistant Coach at the University of Wisconsin. His main responsibilities include working with the UW's upper-weight wrestlers. During his tenure at Wisconsin, Chelesvig has helped coach six Big Ten champions and 19 All-Americans, including most recently Dallas Herbst (197 lbs.) and Kyle Massey (Hwt.).

As a three-time NCAA All-American at the University of Iowa, Chelesvig compiled a 115-32 record in four years and placed third at the NCAA Championships three consecutive times. Additionally, Chelesvig helped Iowa to four straight Big Ten Titles and two National Championships between 1988-92.

Chelesvig was a three-time High School State Champion from Webster City, Iowa and was undefeated his last three years. He was also a member of the 1986 Junior World Team and won the freestyle title at the 1987 USWF Junior Nationals.

Jesse Donnenwerth

Jesse Donnenwerth has been part of the Sports Medicine staff at the University of Wisconsin since the summer of 2006. His athletic training sport coverage includes Head Wrestling Trainer and Assistant Football Trainer. Prior to joining the Badger staff, Donnenwerth worked as an athletic training student at the University of Iowa primarily working with the Hawkeye Wrestling Team. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, he earned a Master's of Science degree in Health Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2005. During that time, he provided athletic training services for wrestling, football, and men's soccer. While working on his Doctorate in Education and Curriculum Instruction at Virginia Tech, he held the position of assistant athletic trainer primarily working with wrestling.

Donnenwerth offers extensive wrestling experiences which include working at the U.S. Open Wrestling Championships, U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials, and the World Championship Wrestling Trials. In 2004, he traveled with the USA Wrestling Team to Minsk, Belarus for an international freestyle tournament. Jesse has extensive experience in strength and conditioning and has also conducted research investigating the body composition of high school wrestlers.

Donnenwerth is a certified member of the National Athletic Trainer's Association, and is licensed to practice as an athletic trainer by the states of Wisconsin and Virginia. He is also certified in First Aid/CPR/AED.