Daniel Ownbey enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Montevallo wrestling program, having guided the Falcons since the program’s inception.
“I am extremely excited to be returning to the south and beginning the process of building what will be a successful program,” Ownbey said upon his hiring.
Named the first head coach in program history in 2022, Ownbey was tasked with building Montevallo wrestling from the ground up and has quickly established the Falcons as a rising program at the national level. Prior to Montevallo, he served as head coach at Wheeling University from 2020-22, where he helped rebuild the program following its reinstatement efforts and guided multiple wrestlers to the MEC Championships.
Since leading Montevallo onto the mat for the first time, Ownbey has overseen steady year-over-year growth.
The 2025-26 season marked another milestone year for Montevallo, as the Falcons posted a program-best 10 dual wins, including nine Conference Carolinas victories, while earning their first Conference Carolinas Championship appearance. The team produced a program-record three NCAA qualifiers (Cole Hunt, Carson Freeman, and Jake Chisolm), while Chisolm became the program’s first two-time national qualifier. Montevallo also recorded its first ranked victory, an 18-16 win over No. 18 King, and set program standards for margin of victory and team points scored in a dominant 58-0 shutout of Lincoln Memorial. Under Ownbey’s leadership, the Falcons produced 39 tournament placers, five individual tournament champions, and scored 40-plus points in six dual contests. Five wrestlers earned All-Conference Carolinas honors, highlighted by First Team selection Cole Hunt, who set a program record with a 32-4 overall record.
In 2024-25, Montevallo continued its upward trajectory with a third-place finish in the Conference Carolinas West Division with seven dual victories, including six in Conference Carolinas action. The Falcons recorded 29 tournament placers and sent two wrestlers, Colt Brown and Jake Chisolm, to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history at 125 and 165 pounds, respectively. The team also earned its first shutout victory, a 50-0 win over Shorter, and posted three consecutive 47-plus point dual performances over Lincoln Memorial, Shorter, and Emory & Henry.
In the 2023-24 inaugural season, Ownbey guided the Falcons to a 6-8 overall record and 4-5 mark in conference duals, highlighted by the program’s first-ever dual victory, a 32–15 win over Allen on Nov. 8, 2023, and its first conference win in school history. The season was capped by history as Gabe Hixenbaugh became Montevallo’s first NCAA national champion, finishing a perfect 31-0 campaign.
Before his time at Montevallo, Ownbey coached at Newberry, Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, and Ferrum, helping develop multiple national qualifiers and All-Americans, including Isaiah Royal, a national runner-up in 2019 and Super Region II Wrestler of the Year in 2020.
A decorated student-athlete, Ownbey was a four-time All-American and two-time national champion at 141 pounds while at UNC Pembroke, compiling a 133-18 career record. He was also a Region II Wrestler of the Year and NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year finalist.
A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Ownbey is a former two-time state champion at Enka High School, winning 110 of his final 111 matches. He holds a degree in Exercise Sports Science from UNC Pembroke in 2015 and is married to his wife, Elisabeth.
