Coach Bauer comes into Defiant with over 10 years of full time NCAA Collegiate coaching experience. Bauer has just concluded his 11th full-time collegiate coaching season. Bauer is currently the associate Head Coach at NCAA ll Colorado School of Mines where he has been for the past 5 seasons. During Bauer’s stint at Mines, he has brought the Orediggers to a 43-10 dual season record along with a NCAA finalist and a 2025 RMAC Team Championship.

While at Mines and Kutztown University, Bauer has been featured in numerous online platforms such as (Coaches Insider, Athletes Ocean and Ohio mat media) for his advanced technique instructions. Before Coaching at Colorado School of Mines he was the Associate Head Coach at fellow NCAA Division II program Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. During Bauer’s coaching tenure there, he lead the Golden Bears to a combined dual record of 44-7 and the program's first ever PSAC championship and a 4 th rank NCAA rankings his last season.
Bauer coached eight all-Americans, nine regional champions, a national champion, and took Kutztown to their first-ever top-10 NCAA Championships team finish.

As a competitor, Bauer wrestled collegiately at Iowa State University and Maryville, climbing as high as #18 in the 133-pound NCAA Division I National rankings for the Cyclones as a redshirt freshman. Bauer was a fourth-seeded BIG12 conference wrestler for Iowa State. Bauer claimed a pair of all- America finishes at the NCAA Championships, finishing fifth as a junior and fourth as a senior.

Bauer wrestled scholastically for Iowa City West High School and had a 188-10 career record. He won a pair of 3A state championships and reached the Iowa state finals on three occasions. A four- time state place winner, Bauer finished his high school career ranked in the top five in the country with a Fargo All-America award and was named to the 2012 USA Wrestling High School All-America team.