SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Shippensburg University Director of Athletics Dr. Roberta Page announced Friday that current Raider assistant coach Seth Bloomquist '96M has been hired as the interim head wrestling coach, replacing eight-year veteran Don Tabar. Bloomquist's hiring is effective through the 2009-10 season.

Bloomquist has been an assistant coach with the Red Raiders for five seasons after joining the coaching staff prior to the 2004-05 season. He brought with him eight years of head coaching experience at the high school level where he was a standout wrestler himself.

“It’s not too often that you can be fortunate enough to bring someone like Seth Bloomquist aboard,” said Director of Athletics Dr. Roberta Page. "We are very happy to have him in this position and the outcry of support has been overwhelming. He has a great rapport with the student athletes, coaches and the administration. We are looking forward to a great working relationship with him.”

In his five seasons with the Red Raiders, Bloomquist has been instrumental in helping the team achieve 37 dual match victories, 10 All-Americans, five NCAA East Region champions and one national champion, the first-ever in team history. In 2006 along with head coach Don Tabar, the duo helped guide Shippensburg to a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, the highest-ever finish by a Red Raider team at the national championships.

Prior to his arrival at Shippensburg, Bloomquist spent four seasons as the head coach at Bradford High School from 1998-2001 and three at his alma mater, Kane High School from 1993-96. In seven seasons as a high school head coach, he mentored four District IX champions, two regional champions and three state qualifiers, including placewinner and two-time district and regional champion Justin Brinkley who placed third at 189 pounds in 1995 and fourth in 1994.

A standout wrestler in his own right, Bloomquist totaled a 74-14-1 record at Kane from 1982-86 where he was a member of the school’s only three District IX championship teams from 1984-86 under three-time District IX AA Coach of the Year, Barry Johnson. As a sophomore in 1984, Bloomquist won a District IX championship and finished fourth at the PIAA state championships after posting a 3-2 record at 98 pounds. In 1986, he was a member of the Pennsylvania-New York Big 30 team that competed in Europe.

Bloomquist had planned to continue wrestling at Clarion University before a knee injury ended his competitive career during his freshman season in 1988.

A 1993 graduate of Clarion with a bachelor of science degree in education, Bloomquist received a master of science degree in administration of justice from Shippensburg in 1996.

In addition to his coaching duties with the Red Raiders, Bloomquist serves as the director of detention monitoring at Shippensburg where he is responsible for monitoring compliance with the standards for secure detention and providing technical assistance to county probation departments and detention facilities regarding these standards and alternatives to detention. He also serves as a Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges' Commission Court Consultant for 10 counties throughout the state.

During his tenure as a high school head coach, Bloomquist was the Assistant Director of Juvenile Probation with the McKean County Juvenile Probation Department, working as the director of the “Boondoc’s” program and school based probation in McKean County, while also serving as a DUI instructor for adult offenders. He was named Pennsylvania Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year in 1998.