Dakota Bauer

Bauer enters his 10th full-time collegiate coaching season and this fourth at Mines, joining the Oredigger wrestling staff as an assistant coach in August 2022. He arrived in Golden after serving as the Associate Head Coach at fellow NCAA Division II program Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.

As associate head coach at Kutztown, Bauer was the primary recruiting coordinator along with their practice coordinator/technician. In 2021-22, Kutztown was ranked as high as #4 heading into the NCAA Division II Championships. 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. Bauer coached eight all-Americans, nine regional champions, a national champion, and took Kutztown to their first-ever top-10 NCAA Championships team finish.

Through Bauer’s first few seasons at Mines he has led the Orediggers to a 32-8 dual meet record along with a NCAA national finalist and the 2025 RMAC team championship. 

As a competitor, Bauer wrestled collegiately at Iowa State University, 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.

The Iowa City, Iowa, native finished his collegiate career at Maryville University, where he claimed a pair of all-America finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships, finishing fifth as a junior and fourth as a senior. His 61 career victories in just two seasons at Maryville ranked among the top 10 in program history. In Bauer's two All-America campaigns he helped take the Saints to two regional team titles while securing third- and fourth-place team finishes at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
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.
 
Bauer earned his master’s degree in public administration from Kutztown University in 2020.
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