Ouachita Stories

The Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Department has officially announced the hiring of new wrestling head coach Todd Allen. His hiring follows a national search of prospective candidates to take over the position.

Athletic Director David Sharp affirmed Allen's career both as a coach and a leader.

"Coach Allen is the perfect fit for our program," Sharp said. "He brings with him a history of success as a coach and a competitor. He has a distinguished career as a serviceman and those qualities will be of great benefit to our wrestlers and the program."

Allen most recently served as the head coach at Cumberland State University in Lebanon, Tenn., where he coached and trained six NAIA All-Americans, including a national champion and a national runner-up. While at Cumberland, Allen's squads finished sixth nationally in 2013-14 and produced three Academic All-Americans.

"I'm extremely grateful to become the head coach at Ouachita," Allen said. "It's a great opportunity to work with the athletes here and continue to build on the winning traditions already established here.

"Being here and seeing the facilities, I know with the guys we have coming back will meet and exceed expectations going into this season,” he added.

A native of Kentucky, Allen also served as a company commander for the Kentucky Army National Guard and earned the Bronze Star during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Cumberland University in 2008.