Lakeland University Head Men's Wrestling Coach has been named the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Region 7 Coach of the Year, as announced by the NWCA Friday.

DeRoehn received the honor after continuing the resurgence of the Muskies men's wrestling program with its best season in more than a decade. Lakeland finished 9-4 in duals, its best winning percentage in duals in a season since 2013-14 and the Muskies' most dual wins in a season since 2007-08. Lakeland also placed five wrestlers in the top eight at regionals to receive all-region honors, also its most all-region honorees since 2013-14.

In his eighth year as coach of the Muskies and the fourth year of his second stint at Lakeland, DeRoehn has rebuilt the program from the ground up, from a team that had only a handful of wrestlers on the roster when he took over to one that this year finished 6-1 against teams from Wisconsin, including a regular season dual win over eventual Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Showcase champion Milwaukee School of Engineering.

"I appreciate the recognition but rebuilding Muskie wrestling into a nationally competitive program is truly a team effort," said DeRoehn.

"I like to say, 'It's an evolution, not a revolution,' which involves collaboration amongst our outstanding coaching staff, the administration, our athletic trainer, sports information, along with alumni, donors, etc. But most importantly, it is earned by the student-athletes who actually put their foot on the line to compete and represent the core values of our program, on and off the mat!"

Lakeland finished its season on Saturday placing ninth of 16 teams at the NCAA Division III Region 7 Regional.