PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania’s wrestling head coach Zeke Jones announced the hiring of volunteer assistant coach Nate Ackerman to his staff on Monday. Ackerman, a lecturer in Penn’s mathematics department, will join current assistant coaches Rob Eiter and Josh Henson in guiding the Quakers in the 2008-09 season.

“Nate epitomizes the consummate student-athlete,” Jones said. “He will now be able to share his experiences every day with the team. His Ivy League education and world-class wrestling talent makes him a perfect fit in the Penn wrestling family.”

A 2000 graduate of Harvard, Ackerman was a four-time letterwinner for the Crimson. His accomplishments on the mat were not limited to collegiate wrestling as he was an accomplished member of the British national team. He won two British National Championships, in 2002 and 2004. In ’04, he was the lone British grappler to represent his country at the Athens Olympics.

Ackerman qualified for five World Championships, where his best finish was 16^th in 1999. Seven times he represented Great Britain in the European Championships. His highest finish at that event was ninth in 2005. He began his international career in 1998 with a spot on the Great Britain Junior World Championship team.

Ackerman’s accomplishments are not limited to the wrestling mat. Following his graduation from Harvard, Ackerman stayed in Massachusetts to earn his Doctorate in Philosophy in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2006. He began his teach career while studying at MIT and continued on to Penn upon his graduation in 2006. While at Penn, Ackerman has lectured on subjects such as algebra, calculus, set theory and topos theory while serving on various committees in the mathematics department and the University in general.

Penn begins its 2008-09 wrestling campaign on Nov. 22 with duals against Princeton and Michigan in The Palestra starting at noon.