After an honor-filled wrestling career followed by great coaching experiences, Ben Berogan is in his fifth year at the helm of the University of Mary wrestling program. Berogan permanently took over the Marauders grapplers prior to the 2008-09 season. He had served four years as an assistant with the Marauders and one year as the interim head coach.
The Marauders experienced their best NCAA season last year, placing 19th in the country in 2012. Taylor Nagel and Trevor Johnson both earned All-American honors. Additionally the Marauders were named the top academic team in the country.
U-Mary advanced one wrestler to the national championships in 2011 after Brady Anderson placed second at the regional meet to earn All-Northern Sun honors. The Marauders fibished with the seventh-best academic record in the nation with a 3.2 team GPA and Anderson, Nagel, Matthew Garcia and Kriss McCleary all earned national individual All-Academic recognition.
In 2009-10, the Marauders advanced two wrestlers to the NCAA championships. Then-freshman Brady Anderson finished third in the region at 184 and senior Dusty Vliem claimed fourth at 197 and both earned a trip to the national championships.
Under Berogan’s tutelage as the interim head coach during the 2007-08 season, the Marauders experienced several firsts. Jesse Laber became U-Mary’s first NCAA All-American when he finished fifth in the heavyweight division. The Marauders finished 23rd nationally at the NCAA Division II tournament, the first year U-Mary was eligible to compete at the national tournament. U-Mary also won its first Northern Sun dual match as a member of the NSIC.
Berogan began his coaching tenure at the University of Mary as the assistant coach at U-Mary for three years beginning with the 2003-04 season. He was the graduate assistant coach in 2006-07 before becoming the Marauders interim head coach in January 2007.
A native of Bismarck, Berogan wrestled for Bismarck High School (1989-1992), earning a record of 123-17. He placed 1st in the North Dakota State High School Wrestling Tournament as a junior and senior and earned a 2nd and 3rd place finish his sophomore and freshman years, respectively. The Bismarck High School Wrestling Team was rated the No. 1 high school team in the nation by USA Today Berogan’s freshman and senior year. Berogan also was valedictorian of Bismarck High School’s class of 1992.
After his successful high school career Berogan attended the University of North Dakota and wrestled under Brad Kerr, Jeff Schumacher and Bruce Moe. He gained All-American status in 1995, placing 7th at the national tournament. He earned further honors as an Academic All-American. Ben graduated cum laude from UND in 1997 with a double major in natural science and Latin.
Berogan previously coached high school wrestling in Virginia for three years under Thad Kiesnowski, who retired from coaching with 463 dual wins, and coach of the year honors. During Berogan’s tenure, he coached eight individual state champions, and coached the team to two state championships.Berogan is married and has four children.
