Wrestling
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 719-333-1751
Sam Barber enters his 11th season at the helm of the Air Force wrestling program in 2024-25. Before taking over the head coaching position, Barber spent the previous five years as a full-time assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, marking 17 seasons of coaching experience at the Academy.
Barber has led Falcons to two top-25 NCAA team finishes, two NCAA Div. I All-American honors, 31 National Qualifiers, two Big 12 Champions, and 38 Big 12 medalists. He helped lead eight cadet-athletes that have competed on the international stage garnering a United World Wrestling World Champion and Pan-American Champion. In addition to success on the mat, Barber has also mentored the Falcons in the classroom, as he guided 21 Falcons to become NWCA Scholar All-Americans. At the same time, his athletes have been named to academic all-conference teams 90 times.
The 2023 Intermat Big 12 Coach of the Year, Barber took the Falcons to new heights in 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In 2023, the team finished 8-6 in duals with six wins over Division I programs, including Pac-12 Champions Cal-Poly. At the Big 12 Championships, Air Force had a program-high seven medalists and placed fifth as a team. Five Falcons qualified for the NCAA championship, the most since 1991. At the NCAA Championships, Air Force placed 18th, tied with Oklahoma State; this was the highest finish for Air Force or a Service Academy since 1971. The team was led by Wyatt Hendrickson, who earned All-American honors placing third. Hendrickson was the program's first All-American since 2003. In 2024, Hendrickson repeated his third-place finish to tally his second All-America honor. Three Falcons qualified for the national tournament and finished 21st in the championship field.
In the 2020-21 campaign Barber guided three wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. Barber’s Falcons posted a dual win over the 21st-ranked Northern Colorado Bears and saw eight wrestlers ranked in national polls. A highlight of Barber’s season was freshman heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson progressing to the round of 12 in the NCAA Tournament as well as winning the Junior Team Trials where he went on to finish fifth at the World Championships in Ufa, Russia.
The 2019-20 season was Barber's most successful yet at the Big 12 Conference Championships, leading a squad with just one senior in the starting lineup. Barber coached four individual Falcons to podium finishes at Big 12s, all underclassmen, including freshman Cody Phippen, who placed fifth. Phippen was also a semifinalist, the first for Air Force since joining the conference prior to the 2015-16 season. At season's end, Barber had two wrestlers within the top-10 in falls in the country in Cody Surratt (11) and Randy Meneweather (10). AF was the only school in NCAA wrestling to have two in the top-10.
In 2018-19, Barber continued to see improvement from his squad on the Big 12 and national stage. The Falcons finished with a 7-6 dual record, marking the fifth straight season Air Force had finished .500 or better in duals. The Falcons also defeated two teams that were at one point ranked in the top-25 (Fresno State & Utah Valley), while five of the six dual defeats came against opponents ranked in the top-25. At the Big 12 Championships, Barber coached Alex Mossing to a third place finish at 157 lbs., the highest placement for a Falcon wrestler in the Big 12 era. Then at NCAA Championships, he guided Anthony McLaughlin to a win in the consolation bracket at 197 lbs., which was the first NCAA victory for an AF wrestler since 2016.
Prior to the 2018 season, Barber had the unique opportunity to be the head coach of Team USA's youth wrestling team at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a historic weekend for Barber and USA Wrestling, as he helped guide a pair of grapplers to the first gold medals in team USA's Youth Wrestling history.
The 2017-18 season saw the Falcons record an 8-5 dual record, for a .615 winning percentage, the highest winning percentage for AF since 2014, and the highest for Barber in his head coaching tenure. At Big 12s, AF placed two, and had senior Dane Robbins qualify for the NCAA Championships at 149 lbs.
Air Force had a young team in Barber's third season at the helm in 2016-17, as the Falcons finished 6-6 in duals. Prior to the season, Barber reeled in the 19th ranked recruiting class in the country, and brought in a group of wrestlers that would help shape the future of the program.
In Barber's second season in 2015-16, the Falcons joined the prestigious Big 12 Conference, giving the Falcons the opportunity to face some of the nations most elite wrestlers week in and week out. The Falcons went 8-5 that year, including a 2-3 mark in the Big 12, and finished the season by sending two wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, including senior Josh Martinez, who became just the fourth Falcon wrestler to qualify for the NCAA Championships four times.
The 2014-15 season was Barber's first as the head man after spending the previous six years as an assistant. He started off his tenure by winning the All-Academy Championship title for the first time in 12 years and the fifth time in program history. At season's end, AF finished fifth at the NCAA West Regional, while Jesse Stafford placed second at 165 lbs. The Falcons then sent two wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
With more than 24 years of coaching experience, Barber’s resume also includes a pair of head coaching stints, as well as 12 years coaching at the international level. He served as the head coach at his alma mater, Upper Iowa, and at perennial DIII powerhouse Augsburg College (Minn.).
During his tenure at Augsburg, the Auggies never finished below third place at the NCAA Division III championships, winning national titles in 2002, 2005 and 2007. In 2006, Barber was named the Division III Co-National Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Additionally, he coached 16 national champions and 60 All-Americans prior to coaching at Air Force, including a spectacular 2005 season in which 10 Augsburg wrestlers earned All-America honors on their path to the national championship.
Barber’s resume extends to the international stage where he was the head coach of the 2015 Junior Pan American Greco team, which finished second in competition. In 2012 he coached the FILA Cadet Pan American Freestyle team and the 2013 FILA Junior Pan American Freestyle team, which both captured gold medals; testament to his coaching ability across the wrestling arts. Barber is also responsible for coaching Jesus Wilson, who placed second in the 1999 World Team Trials.
Barber arrived at the Academy after working with USA Wrestling as the manager of the National Coaches Education Program. Prior to that, he spent seven years with the wrestling program at Augsburg College, spending four seasons as the head assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2005 and taking over the reins as head coach in 2007.
A 1995 graduate of Upper Iowa University, Barber served as the head assistant coach at his alma mater from 1995-99 before being named the head coach in 1999. Barber also spent the 2000-01 season as a graduate assistant coach at Minnesota State-Mankato, where he earned his master’s degree in educational leadership and experiential education in 2004. While there, Barber helped lead the Mavericks to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships in 2001.
Barber and his wife, Danielle, currently reside in Colorado Springs, with their daughter, Aven.
