NCAA National Champion Focus Is Team Culture And The Right Lifestyle

Article courtesy of Patrick "Packy" Mader and mnathletes.com

December 2, 2025---"I had a lot of influencers," says Quincy Osborn about his introduction and passion for the sport of wrestling. "My father was a hockey player who transitioned to wrestling. I had an uncle who was a state place-winner and a cousin, Joe Seeger, who was a state champion [1987]. My brothers Charlie and Spencer were wrestlers for Grand Rapids High School. The tenacity and toughness of the sport appealed to me. Physically, I developed a bit later, so my question was, 'Am I going to be big enough?' for school wrestling."

Well, not really. To fill a varsity hole at 103 pounds for Grand Rapids High School, Quincy, born in 1983, was thrust into the spot as an 8th-grader. "I slugged down water to get to the minimum weight of eighty-six pounds," he says, laughing at the memory. The effort paid dividends for the team since Quincy saved the team not only from a forfeit, but he won several bouts. One of Quincy's most memorable matches was when he defeated a bigger, stronger top-ranked regional rival and "the gym just erupted" in support of the undersized wrestler. By 9th grade, Quincy was wrestling the same weight class of 103 pounds but had boosted his weight to 100 pounds and narrowly missed going to the state tournament.

As a sophomore, Quincy surged to the finals of the 2000 Class AAA state championships at 103 pounds before losing 5-1 to undefeated northern Minnesota senior Jesreal Keith of Virginia Area Schools. "I was jumping levels with development and lots of mat time," says Quincy about his progress. Now growing and gaining weight, Quincy returned to the state tournament in 2001 and won the state title at 119 pounds. "I was the underdog in the finals against Thomas McAlpine of Elk River. He was bigger and stronger, but he had cut weight. It may have drained him," says Quincy about his 3-0 victory. The 5 ft 6 inch athlete was undefeated entering the 2002 state championship; no one had scored an offensive point against him all year. He cruised to the finals in the 125-pound weight division before a tight scoring match against T. J. Parlin of Austin, which ended in a 2-0 triumph and a second state title. Quincy ended his high school wrestling career with 146 wins.

The #8 ranked wrestler in the nation at his weight class with more than 20 scholarship offers, Quincy, a 2002 graduate, says, "I didn't look at a ton of schools. I wanted to wrestle for the Gophers [University of Minnesota]. J Robinson was the coach. They were becoming a power program and had just won their second straight NCAA championship. Marty Morgan [an NCAA champion for the Gophers] made a big impression when he came to the 7 AAA section championships to watch me."

Quincy endured a learning year as a red-shirt freshman at the U of MN. "I was behind Ryan Lewis, the returning national runner-up," he says of the 133-pound All-American. "He was an unbelievable athletic specimen, and he humbled me quickly." Remaining at a weight was now proving challenging but Quincy placed 6th in the Big Ten Tournament as a freshman and qualified for the 2004 NCAA national tournament. He lost in the first round and suffered a dislocated shoulder but won two more matches before bowing out at 2-2 in the event He had surgery but did not benefit from any summer training as he recuperated. Struggling to find consistency with some injuries and the adjustment to the new weight, Quincy was sharing the 141-pound spot with Tommy Owen when a decision was made to move up to the 149-pound weight class for the Big Tens. There he finished 5th, earning praise from Dan Gable in a sports article stating that the Minnesota 149-pouder was an example of someone stepping up and why the team was performing well.

Deciding to transfer to Division III powerhouse Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Quincy won a national championship at 141 pounds in 2007 as the team also claimed top honors. It was a memorable victory for Quincy who cites improving mental preparation and learning from losses as other remembered matches.

After completing his collegiate eligibility, Quincy embarked on a career in coaching starting with two years as an assistant coach at Augsburg where he had obtained a history degree. From 2009-13, Quincy served as an assistant coach at Ohio University and earned a master's degree. One year stints followed at the State University of New York at Buffalo and a head coaching position at Lakeland University located in Wisconsin near Lake Michigan. Feeling the tug to return home, Quincy and his family relocated to Grand Rapids for a year before landing at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota for the past 10 years (3 as an assistant coach and head coach since 2019).

"I met my wife, Hannah Mettling, through wrestling channels. She was a friend of Gordy Morgan's [1996 Olympian from Bloomington] daughter. She's a pediatric nurse practitioner from Forest Lake. We have three children: Cleopatra, Victoria, and Aesop," Quincy says, describing his family.

"I want to make sure our athletes are in the best place with right mental approach," says Quincy who admits he wrestled his best when there was less pressure to perform. "I've been lucky with the people I've been around in wrestling. I have been fortunate to be coached by J Robinson, Jeff Swenson, Dan Chandler, Tuffy Hoard, and Sam Barber, among others. I have also been the training partner for both Brandon Paulson and Jake Deitchler who both had an influence on my coaching career." The 2017 Grand Rapids High School Hall of Fame inductee concludes, saying, "Where the sport has taken me is to value the right lifestyle. At Concordia, we want to win, but our focus is team culture and the right lifestyle. Be the best human you can be."