Alvernia hires its first women's wrestling coach

Brian Rippey, Reading Eagle, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 15—Brazel Marquez has been hired to become Alvernia University's first women's wrestling coach.

Alvernia director of athletics Bill Stiles announced the hiring of Marquez on Wednesday. Marquez spent the past two seasons at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Ga.

"Brazel's experience coaching at some of the top of intercollegiate women's wrestling programs in the country, along with her outstanding career as a student-athlete, immediately jumped her to the top of the list of candidates," Stiles said in a statement. "Her passion, commitment to the student-athlete, and drive make her the perfect fit for Alvernia."

At Division II Emmanuel College, Marquez was the assistant coach in a program that was ranked third in the NCAA. During her time at Emmanuel, Marquez coached 13 All-Americans, two national runners-up and a 2021 national champion. Marquez also coached two 2021 Olympic Trial qualifiers for this year's Tokyo Olympics.

Prior to her time at Emmanuel, Marquez was a volunteer coach during the 2016-17 season at Menlo College in Atherton, Calif.

Marquez is a 2016 graduate of Menlo College. She was a two-time Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA) All-American and was a four-year team captain.

"My goal for the Women's Wrestling team (at Alvernia) is to facilitate a healthy environment for these young women to grow and prosper, to retain my athletes and ensure they graduate with their intended degrees, to train, mentor, and mold them while I have them here, and to help put these women on World and Olympic Teams," Marquez said in a statement. "Lastly, I want to ensure that when they leave Alvernia that they give back to their communities, and have adopted a fighting spirit to go out and work to get what they want and deserve in this lifetime."

Originally from Los Angeles, Marquez is a three-time national champion and has been on Cadet World Teams and Pan-Am Teams. She was a three-time California State Champion while wrestling for Northview High School in Covina. She has 20 years of experience wrestling nationally and internationally for California and USA Wrestling.

"I'm so extremely grateful to be a part of the Alvernia coaching staff," Marquez said. "It's exciting times adding another women's wrestling team to the NCAA. I'm thrilled to have been a pioneer in the sport and part of the continued growth for women's wrestling."

Marquez begins at Alvernia immediately. Women's wrestling will be Alvernia's 30th NCAA sport. Competition for Alvernia's women's wrestling program will begin during the 2022-23 academic year.