Eric Thompson

Thompson joined the Sun Devil Wrestling staff in August 2021 as a volunteer assistant coach and immediately made his mark as the Sun Devils' upperweights coach. His drive resulted in a promotion to a full-time assistant coaching position in July 2023. In Thompson's first two seasons with ASU he specifically aided in the development of 2022 NCAA heavyweight runner-up Cohlton Schultz, All-Americans Kordell Norfleet and Anthony Montalvo, and underclassmen legacy Cael Valencia. Thompson was in Schultz' corner during his 22-1 2021-22 season when the then third-year wrestler won his first Pac-12 title, collected Pac-12 Wrestler of the Year honors, and went toe-to-toe with Gable Steveson in the NCAA heavyweight final. Thompson helped coach Norfleet to his fourth Pac-12 title at 197, secured the transfer of 2020 All-American Montalvo prior to the 2022-23 season, and worked intimately with 2023 Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Cael Valencia. In two seasons working with Thompson, Valencia has earned 24 victories (five duals), and was a 2023 NCAA qualifier at 174. Thompson helped Schultz capture the fourth Pac-12 Championship individual title of his career in 2024, as he became one of just six Sun Devils to win four times at the conference tournament. Schultz also added a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships weeks later, marking his fourth All-American honors.   Camaraderie. There's a special bond between @GoldBearUSA and @TheCohlTrain. pic.twitter.com/TQeLLXtuGE — Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling) March 19, 2022   "We're excited about adding Eric to our staff," coach Jones said at the time of Thompson's hiring. "He did a fantastic job helping Olympic medalists Kyle Snyder and David Taylor over the last several years as well as mentoring several of their best developmental wrestlers. He's going to be a tremendous coach to our upper weights." At the time of Thompson's elevation to full-time status, Jones said: "He's been a proven performer as a young coach and we're really excited to see what he can continue to do with our upperweights and our whole program."   Moving ???? After two seasons as a volunteer coach, Eric Thompson has been hired on full-time! — Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling) July 6, 2023 Thompson coached at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club prior to coming to Tempe where he trained Snyder and Taylor, five world-team members and four Olympians.   Before joining the coaching staff, Thompson wrestled at NLWC, where he trained to make the 2016 Olympic Team. He took fifth place in the 2016 Olympic trials. During his collegiate career at Grand View University, Thompson was a three-time NAIA National Champion at 285 pounds and was named NAIA Wrestler of the Year in 2012. Other stops for Thompson include a three-year stint with M2 Training Center where he worked with over 100 athletes and a one-year position with Lock Haven University as an assistant coach.