Alex Tirapelle Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Second Season Alma Mater: Illinois '06

Alex Tirapelle, a former Illinois standout, begins his second season on the Stanford coaching staff in 2011-12.

Last season, Tirapelle helped guide the Cardinal to a 9-9-1 dual meet record, a fourth-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships and a program-best 11th-place showing at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. Stanford sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, producing three All-Americans in the same season for the first time in school history.

Tirapelle joined the Cardinal staff after spending two seasons as an assistant at UC Davis. Prior to working with the Aggies, he spent seven years at the University of Illinois as a student-athlete, graduate student and member of the academic advising staff.

Tirapelle twice earned All-America status at Illinois, captured two Big Ten titles and was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year in 2004. As a freshman in 2003, he finished as the national runner-up and earned Illinois Freshman Male Athlete of the Year honors in the process. Tirapelle finished his career as the all-time wins leader with 128, while ranking second with an .877 winning percentage.

Along with his impressive athletic career, Tirapelle racked up several academic honors. He was a Big Ten All-Academic honoree all four years, plus a first-team All-Academic selection by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and first-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American. In addition, Tirapelle earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award.