Duke University Wrestling

Glen Lanham was introduced as Duke wrestling head coach April 16, 2012 and has made major strides in each of his seasons at the helm. The Blue Devils have se...

Cameron Gross joined Duke Athletics as Assistant Director of Game Operations, Championships & Events in January 2023. In his role, Gross oversees game day operations for field hockey, wrestling, men's tennis, women's tennis and rowing. He also leads women's basketball entry operations and assists with football and men's basketball entry operations. Prior to Duke, Gross was a Facilities & Game Operations Assistant at Abilene Christian University, where he managed game operations for various sports, recruited and scheduled student workers for events and collaborated with different departments to ensure successful game days. Previously, Gross worked as a Recreation Technician with Frederick County Parks & Recreation. There, he planned and executed daily recreation activities for children in grades K-5 and managed part-time assistants' schedules at Middletown Elementary School. In his earlier career, Gross completed two internships, one as a Program Supervising Intern with Frederick County, VA Parks & Recreation in the summer of 2019 and the other as a Facilities & Events Intern at James Madison University Athletics from August-December 2019. During these internships, he oversaw multiple programs, managed events such as the Shenandoah Valley Football Classic and assisted with game day operations for various sports. Gross graduated Magna Cum Laude from James Madison University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Sport and Recreation Management and a minor in General Business.

Codi Russell, a 2021 Appalachian State graduate, joined the Blue Devils in August of 2025, after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at Hofstra. He has also spent time at Army West Point and at the Minion Training Center as a coach following his time in Boone. A standout wrestler at Appalachian State, Russell was a four-time NCAA Championship qualifier and three-time Southern Conference Champion. Russell, who wrestled at 125 and 133 pounds, was a five-time conference finalist and posted 94 career wins during his tenure. He was also a four-year team captain for the Mountaineers and served as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. After finishing his eligibility following the 2021-22 academic year, Russell joined the staff at the Minion Training Center, where he was responsible for coaching youth, middle school and high school-level wrestling skills. He developed training protocols for elite level wrestlers and recruited wrestlers from the southeast to join the nationally ranked Minion dual teams. A Georgia native, Russell starred at Collins High School in Lawrenceville, where he was a state champion as a senior and a four-time place winner. He recorded 230 career wins and was the NHSCA Senior National Champion. Russell earned his degree in recreational management with a concentration in parks, recreation, and tourism, while minoring in coaching at ASU.

Corey Bell has been a longtime volunteer assistant coach for the Blue Devils after a highly successful wrestling career at North Carolina. He works closely with the middle and higher weights and brings an infectious spirit to the program. The Durham, N.C., native was a four-time ACC champion and NCAA qualifier for the Tar Heels during his collegiate wrestling career. Bell, who majored in communication studies at North Carolina, was a Carolina ACT mentor, a member of the Black Student Movement and Ebony Readers. He also performed with the band Sankofa while at North Carolina. Bell is a successful entrepreneur and businessman in the Durham-Chapel Hill area. He and his wife Beth reside in Durham.

Dan Bowen joined Duke Athletics in 2023 as an Academic Coordinator for the Olympic sports programs. In this role, Bowen applies his expertise to the holistic development of student-athletes in the Olympic sports programs, ensuring they balance their academic responsibilities with the demands of competitive sports. Before arriving in Durham, N.C., Bowen was an Academic Advisor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. There, he managed the academic progress and compliance of over 120 student-athletes from the baseball, cross country, track and field and women's lacrosse teams. His work involved guiding course selection and providing comprehensive academic guidance to ensure NCAA compliance. Earlier in his career, Bowen served as a Graduate Assistant in Academic Affairs at the LSU Academic Center for Student-Athlete Success. In this role, he was involved in academic advising for men's basketball, women's volleyball, women's beach volleyball and track and field teams. Bowen's commitment to education is also evident from his time as a founding Algebra I, Geometry, and seventh-grade Writing Teacher at the STEM Magnet Academy of Pointe Coupee, as part of his involvement with Teach for America. He has been recognized for his dedication to teaching, including being a 2022 N4A Professional Development Institute Graduate in the New Practitioner Track and a 2018 Teach for America Excellence in Teaching Nominee. Bowen is an alumnus of The Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor

Dr. Nicole Charles-Linen joined Duke Athletics in 2025 as Assistant Athletic Director for Mental Health & Performance. In this role, she leads the department's sport psychology and mental health services, supporting the well-being and performance of student-athletes across all 27 varsity programs. A licensed psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), Charles-Linen brings extensive experience in both clinical and performance psychology across collegiate, professional and international sport settings. Her prior roles include positions with the Denver Broncos and Texas Rangers, as well as clinical sport psychology roles at Auburn University and USA Track and Field. She has also worked in private practice and contracted roles supporting organizations and athletes across multiple levels. Charles-Linen earned her Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) and Master of Psychology (Psy.M.) from Wright State University, where she also completed a Master of Business Administration with an interdisciplinary focus. She is a frequent presenter on topics including athlete mental health, performance mindset, DEI in sport and trauma-informed care. Her academic and professional background includes specialized training in correctional settings, group facilitation and community-based mental health outreach.

John Johnson III joined Duke Athletics in 2021 as an Equipment Operations Manager, overseeing baseball, volleyball and wrestling. In this capacity, he manages the maintenance, distribution and inventory of equipment and apparel for these sports, ensuring their readiness for both practice and competition. Before arriving at Duke, Johnson was the Assistant Director for Equipment at Howard University. His responsibilities included purchasing, inventory management and distribution of equipment for all athletic programs. He supervised the Coordinator of Football Equipment, a graduate assistant, and student managers, and closely worked with the Bison men's and women's basketball teams. From July 2017 to August 2019, Johnson served as the Assistant Equipment Manager at UMBC, where he was responsible for varsity equipment rooms and the inventory for various teams. Johnson's experience further extends to roles as an Equipment Manager at Cheyney University and Harford Community College. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Recreation and Sport Management with a minor in Business Administration from Coastal Carolina University.

Kerrin Meseck joined the Duke Athletics staff in July of 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition. In her role, she primarily works with...

Lindy Brown enters his 25th year as a member of the Duke Communications Office after joining the department in November of 1999. He spent seven years as an assistant sports information director prior to being promoted to associate SID in the summer of 2006. Over the summer of 2015, he was elevated to senior associate SID. In 2019, Brown received the CoSIDA Achievement Award for the University Division and was honored at the CoSIDA convention in June. In recognition of his long service to the game of women's basketball, Brown was presented with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Mary Jo Haverbeck Award in 2023 at the NCAA Final Four in Dallas. Brown joined the Blue Devil family after serving as the sports information director/marketing and promotions coordinator at the University of South Carolina Aiken for three years. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Brown serves as the primary contact for the women's soccer, women's tennis, women's golf and wrestling teams. His 2001-02 women's basketball media guide placed second nationally in the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) publications contest. The contest was for Division I institutions and received 102 entries. His 2006-07 women's basketball guide also placed fifth, while the 2007-08 guide was sixth and the 2008-09 guide was seventh in the CoSIDA contests. He has been a part of six NCAA Women's Golf Championships (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2019), three NCAA Women's Basketball Final Fours (2002, 2003, 20

Shelby Reich joined the Duke Athletics staff in August 2023 as a Sports Marketing Associate. Before her current position, Reich held the role of Marketing Fa...

Sommer Thomas is currently Assistant Director of Social Media at Duke Athletics, joining the Creative Services team in 2022. Her primary responsibility is managing Duke men's lacrosse, volleyball and wrestling official social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, while also coordinating with teammates in External Affairs to develop effective and innovative content for her teams' social media channels. She is also the lead on the Duke Athletics official TikTok account, which has grown by 50,000 followers since her arrival at Duke. Before joining Duke Athletics, Thomas worked as an Athletic Communications Assistant at the University of Kentucky Athletics. During her time with the Wildcats, she was the primary contact for track & field and secondary for women's basketball, where she grew the track & field Instagram followers by 18,000 and women's basketball by 8,000. Thomas also worked as a Student Sport Contact for Women's Swim & Dive at Penn State Athletics Strategic Communications, where she wrote press releases, feature stories and created photo and video content for official social media pages. Additionally, she worked as a Marketing Intern and a Student Reporter for Penn State Athletics, where she produced live shows, assisted in live streams and in-game marketing/production. Thomas holds a bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Digital Media Trends and Analytics from The Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated from the John Curly

Veteran coach Tom Erikson joined the Duke coaching staff in August of 2020. In Erikson’s fifth season as the assistant coach for the Blue Devils wrestling te...

Joining Duke Athletics in 1998, Will Stephens has been with the Blue Devils for more than two decades. He was named Executive Director of Sports Performance in July 2021. Stephens spent 27 seasons with the men's basketball program until 2025, and 17 seasons in the same role with women's basketball until 2016. During his time with the Duke basketball programs, he coached 60 NBA players, 21 WNBA players, 42 NBA first-round draft picks (including 29 lottery picks) and 11 WNBA first-round draft picks. Thanks in part to Stephens' emphasis on the physical development of his athletes, former Blue Devils have posted 47 top-10 finishes in the 6-NBA-Combine-Test from 2000-25. He has been a part of 19 ACC regular-season championships (8 men's, 11 women's), 22 ACC tournament titles (14 men's, 8 women's), 11 Final Fours (7 men's, 4 women's) and three National Championships. He is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and has held its certification of Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 1996. Prior to Duke, Stephens worked in law enforcement for 13 years. He was also an accomplished powerlifter, winning three State Drug-Free Powerlifting Championships from 1991-93. Stephens set the state record for deadlift (661 pounds) in 1993, and won a gold medal at the 1994 World Championships for Law Enforcement. He was nationally ranked in the top 100 for the 242-pound weight class by Powerlifting USA Magazine from 1993-95. A native of Whiteville, North Carolina, he gr

Zach Scherwinski joined Duke Athletics in 2020 and was promoted to Associate Athletic Trainer in 2026. He works with the wrestling and track & field programs. Prior to his full-time appointment in 2021, Scherwinski served as an intern athletic trainer with the Duke football program during the 2020 season. A native of Park Falls, Wis., Scherwinski earned a bachelor's degree in athletic training from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2018, gaining clinical experience with collegiate teams and local high schools. He completed his master's degree in sports administration at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2020, where he worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer with the football, wrestling, track & field, and women's tennis programs.