READING, Pa. -- With women's wrestling set to begin in the winter of 2026-2027, the Albright athletic department announced Christopher Leese as the first head coach of the women's wrestling program in school history. Leese joins Albright with 30 years of coaching experience at the high school and collegiate levels.

Women's wrestling is set to begin at Albright in the winter of 2026-2027 on the heels of the men's program starting in the winter of 2025-2026. When the two programs were announced in December of 2024, it extended the schools total intercollegiate offerings to 26.

Athletic Director Rick Ferry is pleased to be adding Leese to the Albright coaching staff. "Coach Leese carries with him a strong resume and became apparent early in the search that he was the right fit to lead the women's wrestling program in their inaugural season and beyond. The addition of women's wrestling aligns with the interests and needs of today's students and puts Albright at the forefront of expanding women's collegiate athletic opportunities." Said, Ferry.

When the women's wrestling season begins in 2026-2027 Albright will join Alvernia, Arcadia, Delaware Valley, Eastern, Misericordia and York (Pa.) in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

"I am honored to announce that I have accepted the position of Head Women's Wrestling Coach at Albright College. With this brand new program, I am excited to lead the development of a high-quality wrestling program from the ground up and to contribute to both the athletic department and the broader Albright College community." Said Leese. "I am looking forward to promoting women's wrestling and Freestyle wrestling. Wrestling has always been a passion of mine, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue coaching the sport I love. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Rick Ferry and the entire selection committee for this incredible opportunity."

Coach Leese has head coaching experience at the high school and collegiate levels. Leese led the Carlisle and Fairfield high school programs before entering the collegiate ranks.

Most recently Leese was an assistant coach at Shippensburg University since the 2022-2023 season. In the 2022-23 season alone, Leese helped guide an inexperienced roster to sending multiple wrestlers to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in eight years.

Prior to landing at Shippensburg Leese was the head coach at Penn State Mt Alto. While there Leese coached 24 National qualifiers, three All-Americans and seven USCAA/NCWA Academic All-Americans and coached Mont Alto's first National Champion in 2021-2022. In 2020 Leese was named Mid East Conference NCWA (National Collegiate Wrestling Association) Coach of the Year for leading the team to 16-5 dual meet record while winning the conference championship.

Leese graduated from Kutztown University with a bachelor's degree in education while also competing on the Universities's wrestling team, becoming a four-year letter winner for the Golden Bears. Over the four seasons Leese compiled a 51-15-1 record, was a two-time Kutztown Invitational runner-up, two-time NCAA Division II Regional semi-finalist and reached as high as eighth in the country in Greco-Roman to headline a strong collegiate career.

Off the mat Leese is a USA certified wrestling head coach with certificates of Bronze, Cooper and Teal.