"Whitewater has a winning tradition, with a great staff working hard to make sure Whitewater athletics stays on top," Heilman remarked. "Coach Fader and his staff have raised the bar and I'm looking forward to being a part of that. I am anxious to get on campus to start helping the team grow. I have always been an offensive minded wrestler, so I think our styles will mesh well. Coach Fader emphasizes developing the whole student athlete, and I couldn't agree more with that. I think we will do some great things."
Heilman was the wrestling coach and a physical education instructor at Davenport (Iowa) West High School for the last two years. Prior to that he was a graduate assistant coach at Saint Cloud State University (Minnesota) for two seasons.
UW-Whitewater wrestling just completed one if its best seasons of competition, winning the WIAC crown and placing eighth in the NCAA III championship," UW-W director of athletics
Paul Plinske said. "He brings great enthusiasm, along with a sound background of high school, Division II and Division III wrestling knowledge . His ties will help us attract the best wrestlers in the region."
Heilman earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, graduating in 2008. He followed with graduate study at Saint Cloud.
"UW-W wrestling is very excited about Chris joining us as an staff, full-time assistant coach," UW-W head coach
Tim Fader said. "This is an important hire for our program and really for our sport. Chris has an impressive background and I always found myself getting matside to watch him compete when he wrestling at Cornell. He was quick, technically superior, and an obvious leader in their program."
"It was clear in his interview that Chris has the same passion for wrestling that our staff has, and he will be a high energy, tenacious instructor in the room and recruiter on the road," Fader added.
Heilman was a four year letterwinner at Cornell. He won the 125 pound class in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2008, the first league champion at Cornell in ten years. Heilman earned All-America honors three times, finishing seventh in the NCAA III championship in 2006, fourth in 2007, and third in 2008 when he compiled a 38-4 record. He is fourth all-time in the Cornell record book with 132 career wins, fifth with a .809 (132-31) winning percentage, and he holds the number one spot with 23 career technical falls.
