Kevin Bratland was hired as Coast Guard Academy's wrestling coach and professor of health and physical education on Wednesday.

Bratland takes over for Steve Eldridge, who retired in January. Eldridge had coached the Bears for 47 years.

Bratland was the head coach at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. for the past eight seasons. He led the Cardinals to a 73-47-1 dual-meet record and three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championships. He was named conference Coach of the Year three times, and his teams finished in top 10 at the NCAA Division III Championships three times.

"Being able to hire a coach of the caliber of Kevin Bratland is a tremendous step forward for our wrestling program," Coast Guard athletic director Tim Fitzpatrick said in a statement released by the school. "Kevin brings a wide array of skills to the table that we need and want in a wrestling coach — he's a great on-the-mat instructor and teacher, a relentless recruiter, values the cadet-athlete experience and embraces the core values of the academy. He was a nationally prominent Division III wrestler as a student-athlete, and has run a program at North Central that has been continually successful on the mat and in the classroom."

- Day Staff Reports