Roger Crebs

Roger Crebs

For 36 of the Lycoming College wrestling program’s 69 years, Hall of Famer Roger Crebs has meant one thing to the program - success.

A three-time MAC champion from 1984-86, Crebs was handpicked by the legendary Budd Whitehill when he ended a run of 37 years as head coach in 1993. It may have been one of the best decisions of Whitehill’s career.

From his first season, when he was recognized as the NCAA Division III Rookie Coach of the Year to 2020, when Crebs was honored with a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the Pennsylvania State Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he has kept his team in the center of the Division III national spotlight.

Along the way, Crebs has picked up 465 dual meet wins, which is the most amongst active collegiate wrestling coaches, 13th in collegiate wrestling history and fifth-most in Division III history. He has coached 53 conference champions, 32 All-Americans, five national champions and all 10 of the school’s 100-match winners. Crebs was inducted into the District 4 Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011, the NWCA Division III Hall of Fame in 2012 and the West Branch Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

In 2010, Crebs joined Whitehill as the first coaches in NCAA Division III history to win 300 dual meets at the same school. The pair are one of only three in the history of collegiate wrestling to have reached the mark, along with Minnesota's Wally Johnson and J Robinson and Springfield College's Doug Parker and Daryl Arroyo.

Crebs maintains a high level of excellence with his Warrior teams, with his teams compiling winning percentages of less than .600 just six times in 32 years as coach.

The Warriors posted a 12-4 record in 2024-25, with a group of three wrestlers qualifying for the NCAA Championships as the team finished fifth at the NCAA Region 2 Qualifier. The Warriors finished 11-2 in 2023-24 with a balanced lineup that helped it finish 25th in the final dual meet rankings from Open Mat. In addition, the team earned NWCA Scholar All-American Teams for the second straight year. In 2021-22, Crebs coached two All-Americans, including his son, Gable Crebs, as the Warriors returned from the COVID-19 pandemic by going 11-2 and finishing 26th in the nation. 

The 2018-19 season was another banner year for Lycoming wrestling, as seven grapplers placed the NCAA Southeast Regional, helping the team finish in second at the tournament. Three Warriors won titles and a fourth also qualified for the NCAA Championships. At the championships, the team finished in 13th place thanks to the performance from Garrett Wesneski, who became Crebs' fifth national champion and the school's 10th. A record four Warriors earned NWCA Scholar All-American honors and Wesneski was named both the MAC Wrestler of the Year and the Southeast Regional's Most Outstanding Wrestler. In 2017-18, the team earned its third NWCA Academic Top 30 finish in four years.

Crebs' 2016-17 Warriors enjoyed one of the finest seasons his career, as the team posted an 18-3 dual meet record, finished third at the Budd Whitehill National Duals, won the RIT Invitational, its first tournament win in 12 years. Crebs also became the school's all-time leader in coaching wins during the season, surpassing the mark of 376 set by Budd Whitehill from 1956-93. In 2015-16, Crebs led the Warriors back to the center of the national stage, as he led the team to a 13th-place finish at NCAA Division III Championships, the team's best finish since 2000. 
 
In 2007-08, two Warriors qualified for the NCAA Championships, and Matt Miller, who finished fourth at the MAC Championships as a freshman, claimed an NCAA title at 197 pounds, finishing the year with a 21-0 record.

The Warriors have recorded six 20-win seasons in the program’s history, most recently in 2002-03, all under Crebs’ direction. Crebs’ 1996-97 squad recorded the program’s only undefeated season going 22-0. That year, the Warriors won the MAC and East Regional championships, the Budd Whitehill Division III National Duals title, and took seventh at the NCAA Division III National Championships, where three Warriors earned All-American honors.

Crebs was named the NWCA Division III Coach of the Year in 1997. The honor was his second national award as Lycoming’s head coach. He was also named Division III Rookie Coach of the Year following his first season. During Crebs’ reign, the Warriors have won five Middle Atlantic Conference titles (1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) and three NCAA East Regional (1994, 1997, 1998) crowns.

He has never forgotten the great legacy of Whitehill, and he has hosted the Budd Whitehill National Duals every year since 1995, bringing in many of the top D-III teams in the nation each year to compete in one of the toughest tournaments in the country. The Warriors have won the event twice.

Following his Lycoming wrestling career, Crebs was head coach for five years at William Tennent High School in Warminster, Pa., and assistant coach at Ursinus College in 1992.

Crebs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from Lycoming College in 1987. He resides in Montoursville with his wife, Tara. The couple have two sons, Gable '24, who was a 2022 All-American and 100-match winner on Lycoming's wrestling team, and Cael, a senior wrestler at the US Naval Academy and 2021 Pennsylvania state champion.
 
The Crebs File
Hometown: Lewisburg, Pa.
Wife - Tara
Sons - Gable, Cael
Education
  
1987 Bachelor of Arts - Criminal Justice Lycoming College
     
  Wrestling Experience  
1982-83 Lock Haven University  
1984-86 Lycoming College Three-time MAC Champion
     
  Collegiate Coaching Experience  
1992-93 Ursinus College Assistant Coach
1993-Pres. Lycoming College Head Coach
     
  Awards & Honors  
1993-94 NWCA Division III Rookie Coach of the Year  
1993-94 Budd Whitehill MAC Coach of the Year  
1996-97 NWCA Division III National Coach of the Year  
1996-97 Budd Whitehill MAC Coach of the Year  
1998-99 Budd Whitehill MAC Coach of the Year
2011 District 4 Wrestling Hall of Fame
2010-11 Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year Award
2012 NWCA Division III Hall of Fame  
2014-15 Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year Award
2018 West Branch Valley Sports Hall of Fame
2018-19 Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year Award
2020 Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the Pennsylvania State Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
2023-24 Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year Award
Crebs Year-By-Year
Year W L T Pct. Note
1993-94 17 2 0 .895 Named NWCA Division III Rookie of the Year
1994-95 19 2 0 .905 Darin Keim earns MAC's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award
1995-96 17 3 0 .850 Coached three All-Americans
1996-97 22 0 0 1.000 Named NWCA Division III National Coach of the Year
1997-98 20 4 0 .833 Coached Aaron Harris to All-American status
1998-99 18 3 0 .857 Earned MAC Coach of the Year award
1999-00 21 3 0 .875 Coached four All-Americans, team finished fifth in D-III
2000-01 23 4 1 .839 Royce Eyer wins national title at 157 pounds
2001-02 21 4 0 .840 Helped three wrestlers to MAC titles
2002-03 20 5 0 .800 Fourth straight 20-win season
2003-04 19 8 0 .704 Won 200th career dual meet
2004-05 20 5 0 .800 Coached All-Americans Sean Cullen and Tommy Snyder
2005-06 14 6 1 .690 Derek Crane earns CoSIDA Academic All-American honors
2006-07 10 9 0 .526 Helped Sean Cullen earn bid to NCAA Championships
2007-08 11 5 0 .688 Matt Miller wins national title at 197 pounds
2008-09 13 9 0 .591 Chris Dahlheimer earns All-American honors
2009-10 12 9 0 .571 All 10 wrestlers placed at ECWCs
2010-11 13 11 0 .542 Won 300th career dual meet; school's 25th straight winning season
2011-12 7 8 0 .467 Stephen Hinton named ECWC Most Outstanding Wrestler
2012-13 8 8 0 .500 Coached three 20-match winners
2013-14 13 8 0 .619 Coached Greg Wetzel and Nolan Barger to ECWC Championships
2014-15 13 3 0 .812 Nolan Barger earns All-American honors; two NCAA Regional champs
2015-16 14 7 0 .667 Team finishes 13th in Division III, highest finish since 2000
2016-17 18 3 0 .857 Barger and Seth Lansberry repeat as NCAA All-Americans
2017-18     12 5 0 .706 Brandon Conrad earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
2018-19 14 4 0 .778 Garrett Wesneski wins national title at 285 pounds
2019-20 12 5 0 .706 Hadyn Swartwood earns Third Team NWCA All-American honors
2020-21 - - - - Season cancelled due to COVID-19; team had three NWCA Scholar All-Americans
2021-22 11 2 0 .846 Coached two All-Americans (Connor Fulmer and Gable Crebs)
2022-23 10 5 0 .667 Team earned NWCA Division III All-Academic Top 30 Team and had five Scholar All-Americans 
2023-24 11 2 0 .846 Six Warriors placed at NCAA Southeast Regional; Gable Crebs wins 100th career match
2024-25 12 4 0 .750 Coached three NCAA qualifiers
Total 465 156 2 .748