Warthan heads into his 16th year at the head of the UIndy wrestling program in 2025-26. Warthan, the 2014 and 2017 NCAA Super Region Coach of the Year and the NWCA's 2017 Bob Bubb Award for Coaching Excellence honoree, has amassed a career of both success and service in his time leading the Greyhounds.
The Greyhound alum has mentored the program’s only National Champions, and two of the program’s three four-time All-Americans in Nick Crume and Derek Blubaugh. In total, Warthan has coached 33 All-Americans and 73 National Qualifiers during his UIndy tenure.
Warthan, who was also the 2023 Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year, has mentored UIndy’s only National Champions. In 2011, Nick Walpole was the first Greyhound to stand atop the NCAA podium, taking the 149 title. Derek Blubaugh became the first UIndy wrestler to win multiple National titles, taking the 197 title in both 2024 and 2025 after four trips to the NCAA Division II finals. Warthan also has coached 18 of UIndy’s 34 Regional Champions, including three-time champions Nick Crume and Jack Eiteljorge.
In addition to success on the mat, Warthan has also had four teams earn National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Academic National Championships. The 2023-24 team amassed a 3.480 GPA to take first, while the 2016-17 edition of the team posted a 3.497 GPA to earn the program's third title. The 2010-11 Greyhounds posted a GPA of 3.419 to take the honor for the first time, and the 2014-15 Greyhounds came in with a 3.482 to earn their title. In all, Warthan has had 135 NWCA All-Academic honorees in 15 seasons. He has also coached three of the program’s four College Sports Communicators Academic All-America At-Large selections, with Derek Blubaugh and Jackson Hoover both earning first team honors in 2024 and 2025, while Brody Conner took third team honors in 2019 and second team honors in 2020. Warthan himself is the program’s fourth honoree, taking second team honors in 2000.
The Greyhounds also won their only two NCAA Super Regional championships under Warthan, with the 2017 team besting second-place Ashland by just one point behind eight placers and four National Qualifiers. The 2014 team also took a Regional, taking the Super Region 2 championship and sending a tie for program-best seven to Nationals. Four Greyhounds earned All-American status in 2014, also tying a program best, while Warthan’s 2014 team also earned the highest finish ever at a Midwest Classic by host UIndy, tying for second at the 26-team event. The 2022 Greyhounds matched the Midwest Classic finish, taking second at the annual Division II event.
Warthan has also represented UIndy wrestling with both service to the NCAA and the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He was named to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship Committee in the fall of 2025, and has previously served on the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee as well. In addition, Warthan was the Division II Coaches Association president from 2020-2022, and has served on the NWCA’s Executive Committee since 2023. He has also been on the Division II Coaches Association Rankings Committee, and the NWCA Leadership Group in his time as the Greyhound’s Head Coach.
Warthan returned to UIndy after a successful coaching career at Columbus North High School. There, Warthan spent five years as the head wrestling coach, leading the team to five straight sectional championships, a regional title, a semi-state title and the school’s first team state appearance. He mentored six all-state grapplers, including the school's first individual state champ, a runner-up and 11 state qualifiers.
At UIndy, Warthan was a three-time national qualifier, earning All-America status at 165 in 2000. The two-time Midwest Classic and 2000 Midwest Regional champion racked-up an impressive 88-28 (.759) career record as a Greyhound, and was also a three-time Little State champion, a two-time team captain, two-time team MVP and was named the 2000 Midwest Regional's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Warthan was also a letterwinner for the Greyhound cross country and track and field teams.
Warthan earned his undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from UIndy in 2001, and his Master’s in Strategic Leadership and Design from UIndy in 2017.
