CASTINE, Maine – Ashley Keenan was named the Head Women's Wrestling Coach at Maine Maritime Academy by Director of Athletics, Steve Peed on Wednesday, May 31. Keenan is the first Head Coach of the start-up program for the Mariners, which is the first collegiate Women's Wrestling program in the state of Maine.
 
"Coach Keenan's enthusiasm for the sport of women's wrestling as well as her desire to lead a start-up program make her the ideal first Women's Wrestling Coach here at Maine Maritime Academy", said Associate Director of Athletics, Tricia Carver. "I could not be more excited to watch the program grow under her leadership. If I were looking for a place for my daughter to wrestle at the collegiate level, I would look for a coach like Ashley Keenan— experienced in the sport, excited to build the culture of a new team, eager to grow the sport, and perhaps most importantly, a strong, confident female leader who will be an excellent role model for her team and other athletes here at MMA."
 
Keenan will officially join the Mariners in Castine on Monday, July 10. Women's wrestling will remain a club sport at Maine Maritime for the 2023-2024 season, then will move into NCAA competition beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year.
 
"I am thankful for the opportunity to be named the first Women's Wrestling Head Coach/Strength & Conditioning Coordinator at Maine Maritime Academy and in the state of Maine. I am beyond excited to build and grow the program to become an elite team on campus and to compete amongst the other top women's programs in the nation," said Keenan. "I hope to give dedicated student-athletes the opportunity to continue their academic careers and their athletic dreams. Thank you to the Athletic Department and supporting staff of MMA that opened these doors for me and for the sport of women's wrestling to grow. I also want to thank Elmira College and WWREST Head Coach Cody Griswold for allowing me to grow as a coach and guiding me towards success. I am ready to embrace this experience and create history at Maine Maritime Academy."
 
Keenan brings a wealth of experience, both on the mat and in her coaching career to Castine with her. Most recently, Keenan served as the Assistant Women's Wrestling Coach at Elmira College in New York. During her time at Elmira, her team posted two 15^th place finishes at the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC). She also coached nine NCWWC qualifiers and one All-American. 
 
Before her stint at Elmira, Keenan was an assistant at Colorado Mesa University after wrestling for the Mavericks on the inaugural women's squad in 2018. Keenan started her collegiate wrestling career as a member of the women's program at the University of Regina in 2012 and remained with the program until it was cut in 2018. In 2009, she was named to the Colorado National Team and competed against other wrestlers across The United States.  
 
"I am so excited that Coach Keenan is going to become a part of our team at the Academy", said Peed. "She is a relentless advocate for women in the sport of wrestling and her values surrounding the nature of her work as an educator aligns with that of our current coaching staff. I have no doubt she will have success in quickly building this program into a highly-recognized name in collegiate women's wrestling and that young women will flourish academically and athletically under her leadership."
 
As a Colorado Springs, Colorado native, Keenan holds a bachelor's degree in Fitness and Health Promotion from Colorado Mesa University and is earning her master's in General Management from Elmira College.
 
Maine Maritime Academy is a Division III school on the coast of Maine that specializes in Engineering, Management, Science, and Transportation. Located in beautiful Castine, Maine, Maine Maritime is home to about 1,000 undergraduate students from all over the world. MMA students benefit from hands-on education, international sea-time aboard the Training Ship State of Maine or the Schooner Bowdoin, cadet shipping aboard commercial vessels, and cooperative education assignments. Our students become world-class mariners and engineers, supply chain managers, logistics professionals, and scientists here in Maine and beyond.