The people
in the rooms

Chris Ayres, The Matt Gentry Head Wrestling Coach, was appointed the 32nd head coach in Stanford history on September 11, 2023. He enters his third season with the Cardinal in 2025-26, and his 20th overall as a collegiate head coach.

In his first season on The Farm, Stanford produced a pair of All-Americans and tied for its third-highest finish at the NCAA Championships (16th). Last season the Cardinal produced another pair of All-Americans and a top-20 NCAA finish with eight qualifiers, plus eight NWCA Scholar All-Americans and nine All-ACC Academic Team selections.

A four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, Ayres spent 17 seasons at the helm of the Princeton program and built the Tigers into a conference and national contender — producing just the second individual national champion in Princeton history, the program’s first and second four-time All-Americans, its first Ivy League championship since 1986, and a program-best 13th-place NCAA finish in 2023.

A former EIWA champion and NCAA All-American at Lehigh, where he set the school record with 120 career victories, Ayres spent five years as an assistant for the Mountain Hawks before taking over at Princeton. He earned his undergraduate degree in marketing and his master’s in elementary education at Lehigh. He and his wife, Lori, have a daughter, Chloe, and a son, Atticus.

Sean Gray joined the Stanford wrestling staff as an assistant coach in January 2024 and enters his third season on The Farm in 2025-26. In two seasons with the Cardinal, Gray has helped coach an individual ACC champion and three All-Americans, with two top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships.

Gray came to The Farm after 12 seasons on staff at Princeton with head coach Chris Ayres. Instrumental in the revitalization of the Tigers’ program, he helped lead Princeton to the 2020 Ivy League title (its first since 1986) and helped coach Patrick Glory to an individual national title in 2023 — just the second in school history. Before Princeton, Gray spent seven seasons at Boston University, rising to associate head coach.

Gray had a standout career at Virginia Tech, finishing as the program’s all-time leader in wins (133), winning percentage (.850), and pins (45), with two NCAA All-America finishes and three Eastern Wrestling League titles. He was inducted into the EWL Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame in 2015. In high school he was a three-time Prep National Champion for Blair Academy.

A 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech, Gray earned a Master’s of Education in physical education and coaching from Boston University in 2010. He and his wife, Jessica, have a daughter, Makayla, and a son, Eddie.

Patrick Brucki enters his third season as an assistant coach for the Stanford wrestling team in 2025-26. In two seasons with the Cardinal, Brucki has helped coach an individual ACC champion and three All-Americans, with two top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships and 13 NWCA Scholar All-America awards.

Brucki joined the Cardinal after a successful collegiate career at Princeton (2017-20), under Chris Ayres, and a graduate year at Michigan (2021-22). He was a two-time All-American, placing fourth at 197 pounds in 2019 before earning NWCA First Team honors in 2020, a three-time All-Ivy performer, the 2019 EIWA champion, and just the second Midlands champion in Princeton history.

At Michigan, Brucki served as a team captain for the 2021-22 team which won the Big Ten title and finished as the runner-up at the NCAA Championships. He was an NWCA Scholar All-American, Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

A native of Orland Park, Illinois, Brucki earned his bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton in 2021 and a master’s in Construction Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2022.

Coach Becky Clark is the founder and head coach of Grit N Grace Academy in Watsonville, California, where she uses wrestling to help girls build confidence, resilience, and leadership on and off the mat.

A former Watsonville High School standout, Becky finished 2nd at the 2002 California Girls State Wrestling Championships (63kg) before wrestling collegiately at Menlo College. She earned Women’s College Wrestling All-American honors in 2004 (67kg) and 2005, finishing 3rd (72kg).

Becky also serves as an assistant wrestling coach at Watsonville High School and is passionate about growing women’s wrestling and creating spaces where girls develop as both athletes and leaders.

Jay Jackson is an educator at Fremont Unified School District and has been a teacher or administrator since 2002. Before becoming an educator, he served for seven years as the assistant wrestling coach at Stanford University. His focus in education is to help students become more successful and happier versions of themselves as they take on challenges. He accomplishes this by using simple tools that, when coupled with questions, allow him to integrate concepts of sports psychology into academic classes. These tools promote student introspection on how they can best achieve peak performance while remaining joyful.

Jay has led conversations and modeled his tools with individual educators of all subjects, departments, schools, sports leagues, and businesses throughout the United States and Canada to share his process. Leaders working with prekindergarten through adults have successfully utilized his tools in their classrooms, programs, and organizations.

Jay received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University in California and a master’s degree in education from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington.

Daniel McCune is the Athletic Director at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California, where his connection to wrestling stretches back to his own days as a student-athlete. A 2000 Fremont graduate and four-year varsity wrestling letter winner, McCune went on to serve in a variety of roles within the sport, including Head Coach at Harbor High School, Team Administrator with UC Davis Wrestling, tournament director, camp organizer, and coach with California wrestling organizations. He returned to Fremont in 2009 as a teacher and coach, bringing his experience back to the program and community where his wrestling journey began.

McCune has since become an influential advocate for expanding wrestling opportunities throughout Sunnyvale and the greater Bay Area. In 2011, he helped re-establish the Sunnyvale Wrestling Club, creating additional opportunities for young athletes to participate in the sport and receive mentorship through wrestling. His work also contributed to the development of Beat the Streets Bay Area, where he became a founding board member and served as Interim Executive Director. Beyond coaching, McCune has directed numerous high school and collegiate wrestling tournaments, organized camps, and supported wrestling programs throughout Northern California.

Today, as Fremont High School’s Athletic Director, McCune continues to support student-athletes across all of the school’s athletic programs while remaining deeply connected to wrestling. His more than two decades in the sport — as a wrestler, coach, administrator, tournament director, club leader, and advocate — reflect a commitment to using athletics to create opportunities for young people and strengthen the communities around them.

Ellen Tillman is the Executive Director and Founder of Beyond the Podium, an organization supporting Olympic sport athletes through service, education, and leadership. She is also the Women’s Varsity Head Coach at American High School and a middle school coach with Fremont Warrior Wrestling Club, where she works to develop athletes and young leaders both on and off the mat.

Ellen graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Youth, Adult, and Family Services, where she also served as manager of the wrestling team. Her professional experience includes Teach For America, Beat the Streets Bay Area, the Parent-Teacher Association at the site, city, and district levels, and various roles within her local school district. Across her work in education, athletics, and youth development, Ellen is committed to service-driven leadership and creating meaningful opportunities for athletes and young people to thrive.

Parent of two wrestlers since 2017, who attended Blach Intermediate School and Mountain View High School. Wendy has served as a parent lead for the MVHS wrestling team for the past eight years and is the Treasurer of the CARTC/CWC.

Matt is the founder of WrestlingIQ, which helps 400+ youth wrestling clubs and high school teams save admin time and run their team effectively.

Matt wrestled for Stanford University from 2008 to 2012 and graduated with a degree in Computer Science with a focus on Human Computer Interaction.