Austin Zaring was a student-athlete on the Friends University wrestling team from 2018 to 2022.

After his career as a student-athlete wrapped up, Zaring served as a graduate assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs.

Now, he's entering his first year as the head coach of the women's wrestling program and is thankful for his experience as a student-athlete and graduate assistant.

He believes both experiences have set him up for success in his new role.

"I had a great experience last year as a graduate assistant for both the men's and women's teams," said Zaring. "I have a great mentor on the men's side of things with Tyler Mies, who guided me to be a better coach and really understand what it means to be in this position. As far as that, it's been pretty simple because I get to work with the ladies. They make my job easy, so it's been a pretty easy transition from my days as a student-athlete to being the head coach of the women's team."

A Perfect Fit

Zaring has been at Friends University for several years now and has always felt comfortable on campus.

The people he's met along the way have not only helped him grow as a student-athlete and coach, but also as a person.

"Everyone's just really trying to be a servant leader," said Zaring. "That alone is what makes it such a great fit for myself. Everyone on campus is just trying to help one another out, and it's truly amazing to see how many people on campus want the best for those next to them."

From the moment he stepped foot on campus, Zaring has had nothing but positive experiences.

Whether he was a student-athlete, graduate assistant or a head coach, the support from the administration has always been there.

"From the moment I've been here, the administration's been awesome," said Zaring. "It's just great that I get to pour back into the community as the women's head coach. It's been a great fit since day one, and I'm glad that I get the opportunity to make it a good fit for young ladies in the program."

A New Path

When Zaring graduated from Friends University, he didn't expect to be a coach for long.

He was planning on going into the Air Force, but the head coaching position for the women's team opened up in April.

Those around him told him to apply for the job, and the rest is history.

"I never saw myself as someone that could be a head coach, but I had a lot of people that believed in me and thought that I could be successful in this position," said Zaring. "I really have found my spark within the last year of wanting to pursue coaching, and this short season has really lit that spark of getting to impact people's lives."

Expectations

Zaring has high expectations for the women's wrestling team this year and going forward.

He knows what they're capable of, but doesn't believe the sole focus should be on winning.

"We're just out there every weekend trying to get better," said Zaring. "When we focus on those kinds of things, the results happen. It's a product of our training."

Zaring wants to build a culture that's centered around training hard and having fun.

If the focus is on winning, then bad relationships with the sport tend to develop.

"When you go into duals with the expectation of needing to win, that's where you start to perform badly," said Zaring. "We want to train hard, love God, and love each other. Those ingredients together lead to some successful cultures that produce the results we want."