Mike Dixon
Associate Head Coach
Mike Dixon joined Indiana Wrestling in 2018. Dixon, who completed his varsity career at Indiana in 2001, returns to his alma mater as the Hoosiers’ associate head coach. Dixon’s duties as the Associate Head Coach include recruiting, organizing on campus visits, oversight of team academics, coordination of team travel and oversight of the team travel budget. In addition, Dixon is involved with practice planning, match strategizing, scouting and individual skill instruction.
Dixon helped build momentum for the program as the Hoosiers set a new average attendance record of 1,630 fans per match. That attendance number was up from the 1,286 fans per match from the previous season. In addition Dixon was instrumental in helping Indiana bring in the 16th ranked recruiting class in the country, his first with the program.
In the 2019-20 season the Hoosiers had two NCAA qualifiers, Liam Cronin and Graham Rooks. Cronin (125) and Rooks (149) both finished the season ranked in the top-20 and beat a total of nine ranked opponents on the season. Cronin finished fifth at the Big Ten Championships and Rooks finished in 10th place.
In his first season on staff, Dixon helped the Hoosiers to two wins over ranked opponents (#12 North Carolina, #25 Stanford) – the first time since the 2008-09 season Indiana had two ranked wins in a season. The Hoosiers win over North Carolina was the program’s first win over a top-15 opponent since 2008. The Hoosiers closed the dual match season with a 32-0 win against Chattanooga. It was their first shutout since the 2015 season.
“I’m excited to bring Mike Dixon on staff, as he was an instrumental part of the rise of Old Dominion Wrestling and brought in many top-25 recruiting classes,” Escobedo said. “As an alumnus, his passion and commitment to see Indiana Wrestling at the top is unwavering. I know he is excited to have a big impact on taking this program to new heights. My staff and I are eager to foster success in this program.”
Dixon enters the IU wrestling room with over a decade of veteran leadership and experience with raising a wrestling program to national prominence. In 13 years as an assistant and associate head coach at Old Dominion, Dixon guided his wrestlers to nine NCAA All-American honors and 18 individual conference championships. Dixon helped head coach Steve Martin find success on the mat and in the classroom while putting the Monarchs on the map of the wrestling landscape. In the 2007-08 season, Dixon’s first with the Monarchs, Old Dominion earned their first top-20 ranking in program history with six NCAA Championships qualifiers, then a school record.
The 2011-12 season saw the Monarchs raise the bar with a program-best seven NCAA qualifiers and an outstanding dual meet season that included ranked upsets over Iowa State, Rutgers, and Central Michigan. Two wrestlers, Scott Festejo and Te Edwards, claimed individual titles at the 2012 CAA Championships. Dixon helped guide a seamless transition to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in the 2013-14 season, as all six NCAA qualifiers finished in fourth-place or better at the ensuing MAC Championships.
In just their second season as a MAC member, Dixon and the Monarchs took runner-up at the conference championships in 2015. Dixon was named the SAAC Staffer of the Year and led two wrestlers, Chris Mecate and Alexander Richardson, to the All-American podium. Mecate became Old Dominion’s first back-to-back All-American with a fifth-place finish the next season.
Dixon assisted in the development of Kevin Beazley, one of the most prominent wrestlers in program history, as he achieved All-American status at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Most recently, Beazley took a Greco-Roman bronze medal finish at the 2018 City of Sassari International in Italy.
In his 13 years with the program, the Monarchs achieved a 109-82-2 dual meet record with two CAA regular season titles. Old Dominion also earned six NWCA All-Academic honors in Dixon’s tenure alongside two NCAA Elite 89 awards, given annually to the NCAA Championships participant with the highest GPA. Tristan Warner became just the second wrestler in Division-I to win back-to-back Elite 89 honors.
Prior to his tenure in Roanoke, Virginia, Dixon served as an assistant at James Madison University. Dixon guided two conference podium finishes and revitalized their recruiting strategy after the university dropped athletic scholarships in 2000.
Before joining the staff at James Madison, Dixon embarked his coaching career in his hometown as an assistant at the University of Indianapolis, Dixon oversaw five national qualifiers and three top-12 finishes. He also assisted the wrestling program at Arsenal Tech High School and guided them to four conference champions, two sectional champions, and the school’s first-ever freshman to win a city championship.
A 2001 graduate of Indiana University with a degree in Public Affairs Management from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Dixon was an NCAA qualifier at 275 lbs. In 1998, he earned the team’s Most Improved Wrestler award and the prestigious Billy Thom Leadership award in 2001. Also in the 2001 season, Dixon became a University National Freestyle Champion and earned a fourth-place finish in the 2001 Pan-American Games at 97kg.
Dixon earned his master’s degree in education from Old Dominion University in 2012.
