Personalities of the PAC – Craig Thurber (Thiel College)

Print
The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is thrilled to participate in the third annual Division III Week – a celebration of the division’s unique philosophy that equally values academics, athletics and student-athletes’ involvement in a full and rich campus life. Division III Week provides an opportunity for all individuals associated with a Division III institution or conference to recognize the powerful impact of athletics and student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community.

Follow all of the DIII Week stories being told across the country by checking out the Twitter hashtag #d3week. Want to tell a Division III story of your own? Use the Twitter hashtag #whyd3!
Craig and 2014 All-American Jake Lowry at the Division III National Championships.
Craig celebrates a victory with Tomcat freshman Trevor Wood.
Craig Thurber
Thiel College
Craig, a three-time NCAA Division II All-American at Pitt-Johnstown, recently completed his 11th season as the head wrestling coach at Thiel. He has led the Tomcats to seven PAC titles and has seen 16 of his wrestlers compete at the Division III National Championships, with nine earning All-America honors. His program has also performed well in the classroom, with four wrestlers earning National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-America awards and four of his teams being tabbed as a NWCA Scholar Team Award recipients.
With each passing day and year, I enjoy my job and am continuously thankful for the opportunity I was given in 2003. I grew up in Greenville, and as a kid I spent many days in the Thiel gym playing basketball just about every week. When I was offered the job to be Thiel's head wrestling coach, I couldn’t have been more excited. It was an opportunity to coach a sport, in my hometown, that has been a passion of mine since I was 10.

I am also the adviser for Thiel's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and have served as adjunct professor in the health and physical education department for the last eight years. With these different duties, I have seen Division III student-athletes from many different perspectives. Our student-athletes are passionate, committed, and truly love the sports they are participating in. They are extremely dedicated young people, going out of their way to volunteer in their communities and working on their campuses, all the while spending countless hours going to class, studying and participating in the sport they love. These are the kids you want your own children to grow up and emulate.

I enjoy watching kids who are very unsure of themselves when they walk onto campus as freshmen, who learn to set goals, work hard, and strive to achieve those goals day after day. Some sooner than others, some not at all, but it is not for lack of effort. When they do achieve the goals they have set, I love seeing the looks on their faces, be it an academic accomplishment or their performance in the athletic arena.

I am honored, blessed, and extremely lucky to be able to work with the student-athletes at Thiel as a coach, adviser, and a teacher. I'm grateful to have met so many outstanding people and developed so many friendships throughout the years. Working with so many dedicated kids on a daily basis makes me proud to coach in Division III, and I can’t even begin to say how these student-athletes have impacted my life.