The winningest coach in West Virginia wrestling history, Craig Turnbull built the Mountaineers into one of the strongest and most accomplished programs in the nation during his 35-year tenure from 1979-2014. 

Turnbull recorded 287 victories during his illustrious career, ranking in the Top 100 all-time in career victories for college wrestling coaches in all divisions. 

Turnbull coached three wrestlers to five national titles: Scott Collins at 142 pounds in 1991, Dean Morrison at 177 pounds in 1994 and Greg Jones at 174 pounds in 2002 and two at 184 pounds in 2004 and 2005. Jones was named the 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Championships. 

The Erie, Pennsylvania, native, coached 166 NCAA national qualifiers and had 18 wrestlers combine for 26 All-America honors. As a team, the Mountaineers finished in the Top 25 at the NCAA Championship 12 times, including a program-best sixth-place finish in 1991. 

Turnbull coached most of his career at WVU in the prestigious Eastern Wrestling League, leading the Mountaineers to EWL Tournament titles in 1996, 2002 and 2004 and EWL dual meet titles in 1990, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005. In all, Turnbull coached 42 EWL individual champions. 

He was named EWL Coach of the Year four times (1990, 1998, 2002 and 2004) and coached nine EWL Hall of Fame inductees. He was selected to coach in the prestigious National Wrestling Coaches’ Association All-Star Classic in 1992. 

Turnbull’s appointment as coach of the Mountaineers in 1979 came one season after WVU joined the EWL. Inheriting a team that went 10-26 the two years prior to his arrival, Turnbull did not wait long before guiding WVU to success. During his first season, the team produced a 9-4-2 record, and Mark Cagle became WVU’s first wrestling All-American since 1955. Those feats earned Turnbull Division I NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year honors. 

One of the driving forces behind the success of Mountaineer wrestling was the construction of the WVU Wrestling Pavilion, which Turnbull was instrumental in planning. The $1.4 million building was constructed in 2006 and continues to be the home of Mountaineer wrestling today. 

Turnbull has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fames: Clarion University (his alma mater), Eastern Wrestling League, the Wesleyville-Iroquois-Lawrence Park Hall of Fame, the Metro Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, and the Erie Hall of Fame. 

He coached five wrestlers who have been inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame (Dominic Black, Scott Collins, Greg Jones, Vertus Jones and Dean Morrison). 

Turnbull wrestled at Clarion, earning All-America honors in 1973 before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in special education. He earned a master’s degree in sports psychology and counseling from WVU in 1978 and a second master’s degree in counseling psychology 10 years later. Turnbull also took doctorate level courses in counseling psychology.