Columbia’s Donny Pritzlaff named WIN’s Breakthrough Program Coach of the Year

Photo: Donny Pritzlaff (right) coached 165-pounder Cesar Alvan to a third-place finish at the 2026 NCAAs as a No. 12 seed. Photo by Sam Janicki.

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in WIN’s Annual Awards Issue, which published May 5, 2026. Subscribe to WIN Magazine using promo code Awards Issue to start a subscription with our May Awards/U.S. Open Issue.

By Tristan Warner

For Donny Pritzlaff, the breakthrough didn’t come overnight, but when it arrived, it made history.

Just two years into his tenure as head coach at Columbia, Pritzlaff has been named WIN Magazine’s inaugural 2026 Breakthrough Program Coach of the Year, recognizing the top coach who elevated his program to new heights. And in 2026, no program embodied that rise more than Columbia.

The Lions didn’t just improve, but they rewrote portions of their record book. Columbia finished the dual-meet season with an impressive 11-3 record, punctuated by a perfect 5-0 mark in Ivy League competition. The undefeated conference run secured the program’s first regular-season Ivy League title since the 1981-82 season, a drought spanning more than four decades.

Columbia wrestling snapped another losing streak of four decades when the Lions upset No. 22 Cornell, 22-21, at the Friedman Wrestling Center on Jan. 31. It was Columbia’s first win over the Big Red since February 7, 1986. The Lions also scored a 24-15 win over nationally-ranked Arizona State that same day.

It was a statement season, and it didn’t stop there. Carrying that momentum into the postseason, Columbia placed second at the Ivy League Championships, crowning three individual conference champions while showcasing a lineup that had developed both depth and star power. By the time the NCAA Championships arrived, the Lions had already proven they belonged among the nation’s rising programs.

Then they took another step. Columbia qualified a program-record seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. And on the sport’s biggest stage, the Lions delivered the best performance in program history, scoring 25 team points, which was the highest total ever for Columbia at the national tournament.

Leading the charge was Cesar Alvan, whose third-place finish at 165 pounds after entering as a No. 12 seed etched his name alongside the program’s all-time greats. Alvan became just the seventh All-American in school history, tying the highest NCAA finish ever achieved by a Columbia wrestler (Steve Santos in 2013). It was a defining moment for Alvan and the program as a whole.

At the conclusion of the NCAAs in Cleveland, Pritzlaff was named the NWCA’s National Coach of the Year.

And in what has become a feel-good full-circle moment, Alvan enlightened fans in his post-NCAAs interview of the part he played in recruiting his own future coach (Pritzlaff) to the school two Junes ago.

“As soon as I found out Donny (Pritzlaff) was even interested, it was just a rumor at that point, I got his number from (Anthony) Ashnault and I literally called him up and said, ‘I know you don’t know who I am, but if there is any chance this rumor is true, please take this job and believe in us. We are some hard-working kids and we will make it happen.’ Then Donny told me I was going to be his first All-American here.”

Even with Alvan’s late-season heroics, Columbia’s success in 2026 was the culmination of a culture that Pritzlaff and his staff, which includes 2024 Olympic bronze medalist (for Team Puerto Rico) Sebastian Rivera as well as former legendary Blair Academy coach Jeff Buxton, have crafted in Morningside Heights.

In an era where resources seemingly reign supreme, Columbia’s breakthrough stands as a reminder that aspects of coaching like relationships, establishing a positive culture and skill development still matter.

Pritzlaff, who was also named Ivy League Coach of the Year, has transformed the Lions into a program that expects to win, not just compete. The results from the 2025-2026 season validated that transformation in undeniable fashion.