Anibal Nieves, who earned All-America accolades at East Stroudsburg University in 1989 and later competed internationally for Puerto Rico in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, enters his eighth season as ESU’s women’s wrestling head coach in 2026-27.
Women's wrestling began competition in 2019 as ESU's 21st intercollegiate sport. Nieves, who also serves as the head coach for ESU's men's wrestling program, has several years of successful experience coaching both genders. Under Nieves, ESU has had at least one All-American in every season as the sport has grown in popularity, becoming more competitive and reaching NCAA Championship status in 2026. The Warriors have solidified themselves as one of the best programs in the country that the sport has to offer, consistently competing at the highest level across all weight divisions.
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In its first season as an NCAA Championship sport in 2025-26, ESU sent half of its lineup to the NCAA Championships. Qualifying Olivia Klein, Teegan Sibble, Ragan Retell, Selina Moore, and Tiffani Baublitz, ESU took home two All-American honors at the inaugural NCAA Championships. Baublitz recorded the best finish in ESU history at a national championship, finishing as the runner-up in the 160-pound bracket as she became the program’s second two-time All-American. Sibble became the third freshman in program history to become an All-American in her first season, finishing in fifth place in the 110-pound bracket. The Warriors finished 10th overall, their second top-10 finish as a team at the national championship tournament.
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In 2024-25, ESU would qualify 11 for the NCWWC, including four region champions heading into the national meet. Olivia and Emily Klein, the program’s two most-winningest wrestlers, Jackeline Ramos-Oviedo, and Baublitz all entered the championship tournament as winners of their regional brackets. Waverly KaneLong, Ruth Ansah, Selina Moore, Alanna Barberio, Olivia Palmer, Gianna Amendola, and Zoe Gress qualified to help ESU finish second in the region, their best finish going into the national tournament. In her first season at ESU, Baublitz finished in third place in the 160-pound bracket, matching Mia Macaluso’s finish at the 2023 NCWWC as the previous best finish in program history.
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After a breakout season as a program in 2022-23, ESU women’s wrestling returned to the NCWWC with a 12th-place finish in 2023-24. Before that, they finished third at the regional tournament, with Gress winning her bracket in the 130-pound weight class. Among the other qualifiers were both Klein sisters, Macaluso, Ramos-Oviedo, Ansah, Barberio, and Jade Huerta. Macaluso emerged as a three-time All-American, the only wrestler to do so in program history, finishing in third place in the 123-pound weight class.
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ESU’s showing at the 2022-23 NCWWC truly solidified them as a top program in women’s wrestling, as they finished in eighth place, their best performance at a national championship ever. While finishing third ahead of that tournament at the regional meet, Emily Klein and Sofia Macaluso came out of that event as champions, with Mia Macaluso, Haley Delia, Gress, and Shola Cascen punching tickets to the national championship alongside them. Sending six wrestlers to the NCWWC, two-thirds of them ended the year earning All-America. Macaluso’s third-place finish led the group, which was the best individual finish by an ESU wrestler at the time. Her sister Sofia, Emily Klein, and Gress all became All-Americans for the first time in their careers, as ESU scored 50.0 points.
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In the first season of the NCWWC after the 2020-21 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ESU built off its inaugural season by tripling its number of All-Americans in 2021-22. ESU sent six wrestlers to the NCWWC, as Emily Klein, Avia Bibeau, Natalie Dunn, Mia Macaluso, Bri Simsic, and Cascen qualified for the national championships. Macaluso and Bibeau became All-Americans for ESU, as Macaluso finished fourth at 130 pounds, and Bibeau took fifth place at 143 pounds.
ESU recorded its first victory in program history on February 10, 2020, as the Warriors defeated Springfield Tech, 32-6. The Warriors also garnered their first national ranking from the NWCA in March, 2020. Cascen was one of 60 wrestlers from 14 different institutions to earn Academic All-America status. Tatyana Ortiz would become the first All-American in program history after finishing fourth for ESU at the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships in March, 2020. Ortiz helped ESU to place 17th in the team standings as eight wrestlers represented the Warriors in Adrian, Michigan.Â
A Division I national qualifier at 134 pounds in 1988 and 1989 who placed sixth nationally during his senior season, Nieves brings over 15 years of head coaching experience to ESU. Most recently, he has served as head women’s and assistant men’s coach at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Mass., for the past six seasons.
Nieves led nine NCWA Women’s All-Americans at Springfield Tech, including four national champions, and he was named NWCA Women’s Coach of the Year in 2017. He additionally worked as a trainer for two-time U.S. Olympian Elena Pirozhkova, who was the women’s World Champion at 63 kilograms in 2012.
Prior to his position at Springfield Tech, Nieves was the head men’s coach at Division III Western New England for five years. He previously led American International’s Division II men’s program from 1994 to 2003 and was honored as the DII East Regional Coach of the Year in 2000.
Nieves has coached 11 men's All-Americans at the Division II level. His student-athletes’ academic success has stood out as well, with Nieves leading a total of 20 NCAA Scholar All-Americans at his previous programs.
Nieves had a 62-13-5 record in two seasons at ESU, notching one fall, 11 technical falls, and 15 major decisions, and had a 22-3-5 mark in duals. He was also an NJCAA national champion at SUNY Delhi in 1985-86, capturing the title at 134 pounds.
Following his career at ESU, he competed for Puerto Rico in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, earning a 10th-place finish at 62 kilograms at the 1992 Barcelona Games. A nine-time national champion in Puerto Rico, he also took home silver medals at the 1991 and 1995 Pan American Games.
Nieves remains active internationally, serving as the wrestling coach for Haiti at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
