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Brian Shaffer continues to build upon a solid foundation as he enters his 11th season as the head wrestling coach at George Mason. Shaffer returned Mason to its winning ways in 2004-05, after the Patriots struggled with injuries from the 2001-02 through 2003-04 campaigns. Each season, he continues his outstanding development of top-flight wrestlers, and so far has qualified 29 George Mason student-athletes to the NCAA Championships in his 10 years at the helm of the program. In 2000-01, only four seasons ago, Shaffer led a young squad (featuring eight freshmen and sophomores among the 10 starters at most times) to the program's 16th consecutive winning season. George Mason finished the year with an 8-4 overall record, a 2-1 mark in the CAA, and captured its fifth conference title in 10 years at the CAA Championships. Shaffer was named conference Coach of the Year for the second time and joined sophomore Donnie DeFilippis (Wrestler of the Year) and freshman Tony Howard (Rookie of the Year) in sweeping the conference postseason awards. In his 10 seasons with the Patriots, Shaffer has compiled a dual-meet record of 70-59 and three CAA championships. In his first year back in Fairfax (he had been an assistant for two seasons under former Patriot mentor Mike Moyer) in 1995-96, Shaffer led George Mason to a 9-4 record and earned his first CAA Coach of the Year honors, and he led the Patriots to another conference title in 1996-97 as they posted a 12-3 mark. George Mason placed third at the CAA Championships in 1997-98 after a 7-5 regular season, the Patriots were the CAA runners-up in 1998-99 after posting a 9-4 mark, and the team placed second again in the conference in 1999-2000 after posting a 6-4 record. With the CAA taking on a new look with the addition of former members of the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in 2001-02, Mason struggled with injuries and other factors to a 4-8 mark and a seventh-place finish in the league. The 2002-03 (2-12, 2-6 CAA) and 2003-04 (4-9, 3-5 CAA) seasons were also less than ideal for Shaffer and the Patriots as the team continued to fight back injuries and attrition. Mason placed seventh for the second straight year at the 2003 CAA Championships, but improved to a fourth-place showing in 2004. Rebuilding with a young and talented squad in 2004-05, the Patriots finished the year at 8-7 overall (4-4 CAA) for its first winning season since 2000-01, and posted a seventh-place showing at the CAA Championships. Shaffer, 37, came to George Mason after rebuilding the program at American University in three seasons from 1992-95. Under his leadership, the program at American rose from the bottom of the CAA to become a consistent challenger for the conference title. The Eagles posted their first winning dual-meet season in 12 years in 1992-93 with an 11-6 record and were 26-20-1 overall during his tenure. His overall record as a head coach now stands at 96-79-1. In Shaffer's 13 years as a head coach, he has produced three wrestlers who claimed the Outstanding Wrestler award at the CAA Championships and three others who have been named CAA Rookie of the Year. American's Rob Hjerling (158 pounds/1993) and Jacob Scott (190/1995) and George Mason's Sean Shea (126/1997) received the Outstanding Wrestler honor, while Shea was named Rookie of the Year in 1996, DeFilippis earned the honor in 2000 and Howard took home the trophy in 2001. Three Eagles -- Hjerling in 1993, Mahlon Chase at 142 in 1994, and Scott in 1995 -- qualified for the NCAA Championships during Shaffer's tenure (only four Eagles had qualified in the history of the program prior to his arrival), and Scott became the first American wrestler to be nationally ranked (1994 and 1995) and finish among the top 12 at the national championships (1995). In Shaffer's last season, American had six wrestlers place among the top four in their weight class at the CAA Championships, the most ever for the program. Shaffer has continued to turn out national qualifiers at George Mason. Seventeen have moved on by virtue of winning a CAA individual championship - including 2004 149-pound champion Adrian Austin - three automatically advanced by placing second, and the other nine have received "wild card" berths into the tournament. Shea became the first four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time CAA champion in 2001. Shaffer is a 1986 graduate of Woodbridge High School, where he was the Virginia Group AAA state champion at 132 pounds as a senior and earned high school All-America honors. He went on to wrestle four years at the University of Pittsburgh, competing at 134 and 142 pounds. Shaffer graduated from Pittsburgh with a B.S. degree in psychology in 1990, and he is a 1995 graduate of George Mason with a master's degree in education. Shaffer, who also teaches in the College of Health, Fitness and Recreation Resources (physical education), resides in Lake Ridge, Va., with his wife, Terri, and their two children: daughter Katherine and son Zachary. The Brian Shaffer Record |
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