Illinois wrestling head coach Mike Poeta’s new contract extension, announced on Thursday, keeps him in Champaign-Urbana until 2029. In four seasons with the Illini, Poeta has led the team to a 23-27 record whilst it tackled injuries.
Poeta’s resume includes 20 NCAA championship qualifiers, three All-Americans, two Big Ten individual championships and his crown jewel — redshirt senior Lucas Byrd’s 2025 national championship.
“We are pleased to continue Mike’s longstanding relationship with the University,” Director of Athletics Josh Whitman said in a statement to Illinois Athletics. “As a former Illini All-American and proud U of I graduate who later served as an assistant coach … Mike has a special appreciation for this place and this program, and he wears his loyalty and dedication on his sleeve … we look forward to an even brighter future under his continued leadership.”
Illinois returned to national recognition under Poeta, helping eight wrestlers to qualify for the 2025 NCAA championships, the most since 2020. This included redshirt junior Danny Pucino, redshirt freshmen Kannon Webster and Braden Scoles and redshirt seniors Danny Braunagel, Edmond Ruth, Zac Braunagel and Luke Luffman.
“I am beyond excited and grateful to have a long-term coaching commitment with the University of Illinois,” Poeta said. “I have the greatest assistant coaches and support staff in the country and am thrilled to keep it going with them. This is only the beginning though, there’s a lot of work left to be done to get us where we want to be as a program. I cannot wait to continue pushing Illinois Wrestling to places it hasn’t been at in a long time and to a level it has never been before.”
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Their 10th place finish at the 2025 NCAA championships was the Illini’s best finish in nine years. Byrd’s championship was Illinois’ first since 2016 and first ever in the 133 pounds weight class.
“He has given me so much support with the injury and outside of the injury,” said Byrd after winning the NCAA championship when asked about coach Poeta. “He is always there just to make sure I’m having a good day. If practice is bad, he is always checking to make sure everything’s going good inside and outside of wrestling. He is always that shoulder I can lean on and talk to. If I need a friend to talk to, I could talk to him and if I need a coach to talk to he will give me the best possible advice.”
Poeta is an Illinois legend himself. He was part of the 2005 Big Ten championship winning team, a two-time Big Ten champion, three-time All-American and a two-time NCAA finalist. Poeta is currently ranked third in all-time win percentage.
With four years and several accolades under his belt, Poeta has already made his mark. He will now hope to lead the next generation of Illinois wrestling to heights it hasn’t seen before.
