The list of college wrestling programs with three Division I national champions on their coaching staff includes fewer than 10 schools. 

And if someone told you to put together a list of programs in order of most-to-least likely to fit that criteria, California Baptist likely wouldn’t be near the top of it.

Yet here the Lancers are under third-year head coach Derek Moore.

For that — and several other reasons — the Lancers are outliers in the D1 wrestling landscape. California Baptist is also seemingly a program with tremendous upside — as Moore shared in a phone interview the day before Thanksgiving.

CBU Beginnings

Moore arrived at CBU as an assistant coach in 2017.

Ten years earlier, he’d capped one of the more unlikely stories in D1 wrestling history — going from walk-on to undefeated NCAA champion at UC Davis under then-head coach Lennie Zalesky. 

With a 17-2 technical fall victory at 141 pounds over top-seeded Ryan Lang of Northwestern, Moore became the first athlete in UC Davis history to win an individual national title in any sport.

The Redding, Calif., native split the next decade between the United States Army — where he spent six years as a field artillery officer — and his first coaching role at Sacred Heart University. 

Joining the CBU staff came at an interesting time, as the program was entering its last year of Division II participation before making the jump to D1. That transition would span the final four years of Moore’s tenure as an assistant before he took over in 2022 — first as the interim and eventually the full-time head coach.

“We had to go through four years of no postseason where we competed a Division I schedule but just didn’t have the opportunity to go to conference, go to nationals,” Moore said.

“And that was an opportunity for us to overcome some challenges and build the team culture of this program and really start to build the brand within California and across the nation.”

That building job took a huge step forward this past season as the CBU program went somewhere it had never been before.

Griffin, Leak Rep Lancers On Big Stage

Moore thought his first season in charge of the Lancer program would conclude in the corner at the 2023 NCAA Championships. 

Unfortunately, then-redshirt freshman — and likeliest NCAA qualifier — Elijah Griffin suffered a broken leg just before the Big 12 tournament.

A year later, Griffin (125 pounds), along with teammate Hunter Leake (133) would make up for lost time by punching their tickets to the NCAA Championships in Kansas City.

“It gives me goosebumps just talking about that moment,” Moore said. “It was just a huge moment…for the team and for the coaches, because everyone’s working incredibly hard and this sport is really about the NCAA tournament, you know, getting guys there and see how far they can go.”

The achievement proved to be not just a marker for the two and their individual progress at the D1 level, but the entire program.

“When Hunter and Eli qualified it really validated the work that they’ve been putting in, the system and processes that we’ve been working to execute, and it validated CBU on a national platform for all recruits, for all families,” Moore said. 

Both Griffin — now at 141 pounds — and Leake return for the Lancers this season. And in doing so, they’ll be in the room working daily to raise a brand-new expectation for all that’s possible at the private school in Riverside, Calif.

“I think what it also does for the program is it sets a bar. It sets a standard. It’s been done now. So no longer is it a question of if we get to nationals, it’s who — who gets to nationals and what do we do when we get there?” Moore said. 

“We’re all chasing down ‘firsts.’ Who’s going to be the first Big 12 champion? Who’s going to be the first All-American? Who’s going to be the first national champion?

“That’s something we talk with the guys quite a bit about. And we constantly chase down the process in order to accomplish that.”

Building A Championship Staff

There’s no shortage of ‘championship-caliber’ examples in the room for Lancer wrestlers to look toward.

In addition to Moore (2007), the hirings of Mark Munoz (Oklahoma State in 2001) and Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State in 2015) give CBU’s coaching staff a trio of voices who can relay to their athletes exactly what it takes to reach the highest level of NCAA wrestling.

After establishing that both former NCAA champions were “faith fits” for California Baptist — all CBU staff/faculty must be Christian and regularly attend church — everything else fell into place for Moore to put together a staff that certainly stands out among ‘mid-major’ programs at the D1 level.

Munoz, whose son Trey is a two-time All-American currently wrestling for Oregon State, helped coach Moore to his national title all those years ago as a member of the UC Davis staff at the time. Now, the two are reunited, and Moore can’t help but rave about what the addition brings to the CBU program.

“He’s just a genuine human being. And I think that’s really key right now in the era of college coaching is being able to connect with kids and being genuine and caring about them as a person and not just as a wrestler,” Moore said.

Moore also describes Munoz as a “technical wizard” who’s always in the room to lend a helping hand to CBU’s athletes.

After previous attempts to hire him were unsuccessful, the timing was finally right for Munoz and his family to rejoin the college coaching ranks. Moore, for one, couldn’t be happier that’s the case:

“It’s been really great,” he said. “I think he’s been really, really enjoying it. It’s so great to have the Munoz family be a part of the Lancer family.”

Meanwhile, younger wrestling fans will surely recognize the name (and game) of Nathan Tomasello — a four-time Big Ten champ and 2015 NCAA champ (125 pounds) for the Buckeyes.

Moore had previously reached out to Tomasello back in 2022 about possibly joining his staff. This time around, the roles were reversed, as Moore was thrilled to learn that Tomasello was among a talented pool of applicants for his open assistant position.

As Moore describes it: “The more we talked, the more we found things in common or things that make CBU such a great fit, not just for him but for his family.”

Tomasello recently had his first child this past summer and has a wife who’s also an avid surfer. Ultimately, connections like those (and others) helped bring one of the top lightweights in recent NCAA history out to CBU to take the next step in his wrestling career.

“Obviously, just his accolades and his ability and his wrestling IQ speak for themselves,” Moore said. “So he brings an automatic value to this program and how he can pour into these guys.”

Looking To The Future

With so much new and so many firsts for the program, attention turns to what the Lancers can accomplish next.

That all starts with the talent on the roster — both attracting and keeping high-level prospects at CBU.

A little more than two years ago, a pair of top-20 wrestlers from Flo’s 2022 Big Board were committed to CBU in MJ Gaitan (#17) and Mitchell Mesenbrink (#18).

Gaitan would eventually flip to Iowa State, where he reached the blood round at NCAA Championships this past March. Mesenbrink even made it to campus in Riverside but ultimately transferred to Penn State following a redshirt season. He won a Big Ten title and reached the NCAA finals in his first season with the Nittany Lions. 

Those near misses are why the likes of true freshman Paul Kelly (#42 on Flo’s 2024 Big Board) are so key to CBU’s future.

Kelly — from California powerhouse Poway High School — has already made a mark as a true freshman. Last weekend, he led past All-American Jaden Abas of Stanford late in the third period before a reversal swung the match result.

“When Californians see the top California guys sticking at programs and finding success while they’re there, that’s just going to continue to validate what we’re doing out here,” said Moore of his burgeoning recruiting efforts in the Golden State.

“I want to be the premier spot in California for the California elite to be a part of… If you build a program just out of California kids, you’re probably going to be a top-five program.”

Up Next

The immediate future for the Lancers is the loaded Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas (streaming live on Flowrestling, December 6-7).

CBU will be taking a “a small contingent of five or six guys,” according to Moore, who’s excited to see how they fare against some of the top competition from around the country.

“Right now, my only expectation for them is to leave it all on the mat and fearlessly execute what they know they can execute, and we’ll come back and make adjustments as needed,” he said.

“But I believe we have some guys that can get on the podium and we’re going to have fun out there.”

If Moore and the Lancers can continue to build upon some of their recent successes on and off the mat, there’s no reason to think more program history won’t be in store for California Baptist in its near and long-term future.

Catch California Baptist home duals this season live on Flowrestling.