Tommy Prairie named Cortland wrestling head coach

08/30/2022 

Tommy Prairie has been named the wrestling head coach at SUNY Cortland, according to director of athletics Mike Urtz. He replaces Brad Bruhn, who stepped down from the position after a 20-year career with the Red Dragons. Prairie comes to Cortland after most recently serving as head coach at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania for 11 years from 2011-22. 
“I am excited and honored to be the next head wrestling coach at SUNY Cortland,” said Prairie.  I would like to thank Mike Urtz and the rest of the search committee for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to lead the next chapter of such a historic wrestling program. My family and I are excited to get to Cortland and join the community." 

"We're excited for this opportunity to have Tommy on board for our wrestling program," noted Urtz. "His experience in the sport will lend itself in keeping Cortland wrestling on the map nationally. It's a mutually positive opportunity for both Coach Prairie and Cortland Athletics." 
During his tenure at Washington & Jefferson, Prairie’s teams featured 17 NCAA qualifiers, including eight All-Americans, along with 33 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) individual champions and 26 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans. He coached the school's first national champion when Nick Carr won the 157-pound title at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships. Prairie was named the PAC Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Presidents to their first PAC team title since 1999 along with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Prairie served as head coach at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire from 2007-11. He coached 19 wrestlers who placed at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Championships, the NCAA qualifying meet, and had five NWCA Scholar All-Americans. Prairie was named the 2008 NEWA Rookie Coach of the Year, was selected to the National Wrestling Leadership Academy in 2009, and helped the Panthers finish fourth at the 2011 NEWA Championships for their best finish since 2003.

A native of Delran, N.J., Prairie was a standout wrestler at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science. He was a three-time All-American at 125 pounds, including a national runner-up finish in 2005, a third-place showing in 2003 and a fourth-place finish in 2004. Prairie compiled an overall collegiate record of 106-8, was a three-time NEWA champion, earned the South Jersey College Wrestler of the Year award in 2005, and was inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010. Prairie earned a master’s degree from Cumberland University in Tennessee in 2006 and served as a graduate assistant coach at the school during the 2005-06 season.

A 2001 graduate of Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., Prairie was a high school All-American and a national prep All-American as a member of the nation's top-ranked high school team. He also attended Delran High School before spending one year at Blair Academy. He was a state place winner and two-time state qualifier at Delran and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

Prairie and his wife, Jessica, have a son, Chase.