University of Jamestown hires Christian Komitas as men’s wrestling coach

The University of Jamestown turned to a coach with Northern Sun experience as it tries to turn a young men’s wrestling roster into a program that can survive, and eventually contend, in one of Division II’s toughest leagues.

Komitas was named the Jimmies’ new head coach on May 11. UJ athletic director Austin Hieb said Komitas brings knowledge of the NSIC and what it takes to succeed there, a point that carries real weight for a program still finding its footing after moving into Division II and the conference.

That move became official July 11, 2024, when Jamestown received acceptance into NCAA Division II and the NSIC with a shortened provisional period. The university said the transition began in the 2025-26 academic year, which makes this coaching hire less of a reset and more of a build-phase test: whether the Jimmies can recruit deeper, sharpen their technique, and become competitive in duals against established conference programs.

Komitas arrives with credentials that suggest he has already been inside a winning room. At the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, he served as a graduate assistant wrestling coach starting in August 2024. The Rangers finished as the NCAA Division II team national runner-up in 2026, and their wrestling staff produced 12 national qualifiers, seven All-Americans and one national champion over two seasons. Parkside also won an NWCA Division II Team Scholar title in 2025 with a 3.56 team GPA.

His recruiting background may matter just as much in Jamestown. Komitas helped assemble a 2025 recruiting class of 14 athletes that included 25 state place-winning honors and five state championships, the kind of pipeline that can change a young roster faster than any single season result.

Before Parkside, Komitas wrestled at Aurora University, where he qualified for the NCAA Division III championships at 174 pounds in 2024 and led the Spartans with 42 wins in his senior season. He posted 16 technical falls and five pins that year. He also coached at SPAR Wrestling Academy in Aurora, Illinois, worked with DeKalb High School during a state runner-up season, and volunteered at Aurora on instruction and recruiting for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Komitas said he is excited to build a culture of excellence at Jamestown and thanked Hieb and President Polly Peterson for their trust. For a campus that fields 366 unduplicated male athletes and 178 unduplicated female athletes across intercollegiate sports, the wrestling program’s next step will be measured plainly: stronger recruiting reach, deeper local and regional ties, and a roster that can hold up in NSIC competition. In Jamestown, that kind of progress will show up not just on the mat, but in whether the Jimmies look like a program ready to stay in the fight.