Brissette named head wrestling coach at Olivet College

Brandon Brissette has been named head wrestling coach at Olivet College, according to an announcement from Dominic Livedoti, athletic director. Brissette will also serve the college as an instructor in the Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Sport Department.

"We are excited to have Brandon join our coaching staff," said Livedoti. "He brings an outstanding background as a student-athlete and coach. We look for him to carry on the rich wrestling tradition at Olivet."

Brissette served as an assistant wrestling coach at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, for the last four years. During the 2008-09 season, he was the head assistant coach, and for the three prior years, he was the graduate assistant coach. At Heidelberg, Brissette helped the Student Princes win four straight Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament Championships from 2006-09 and the OAC regular season championships in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Heidelberg had five NCAA All-Americans, 17 national qualifiers, seven National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Academic selections and three Top 20 team NWCA All-Academic finishes.

Brissette also served the Heidelberg community as an instructor in the Health & Physical Education Department, adviser to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) group and campus security guard. He also has wrestling coaching experience as the 'Bergmania' Satellite & Commuter Camps Coach, and volunteer varsity and junior varsity coach at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School.

A native of Bay City, Mich., Brissette earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Wartburg (Iowa) College in 2005 and a master's degree from Heidelberg in May 2008. While at Wartburg, he was a four-year letterwinner and three-time NWCA All-Academic selection on the wrestling mat. During his time there, the Knights won the NCAA Division III National Tournament Championship and NCAA Division III National Dual Meet Team Championship twice, and were the national runners-up the other two years. Brissette was named to the Dean's List seven times, elected to the campus ministry board position of college chaplin during his senior year and was a member of FCA and wrestling team Bible study leader.

"I am excited for this wonderful opportunity," said Brissette. "It has always been a goal of mine to get back to Michigan. The thing that I am most excited about is being able to run a quality program, and I hope that I can take it to the next level."