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Travis Wall
No stranger to central Ohio or the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), Travis Wall was hired as head coach of the Kenyon College men’s soccer program in July of 2023.
Wall, the former 2011 National Player of the Year at Ohio Wesleyan and native of Columbus, Ohio, takes command of the Owls after serving four seasons as head coach at St. Olaf College, an NCAA Division III institution in Northfield, Minnesota.
At Saint Olaf, Wall led one of the most impressive four-year turnarounds in NCAA Division III men’s soccer, transforming a program that was 4-13-1 and 5-13 in the two seasons preceding his arrival. In his first year, he led the team to a 9-9 regular season and an appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs for the first time in five years. After being picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll and going 2-8 in conference play the year prior, the Oles took sixth place with a 5-5 record, marking the largest year-to-year improvement in the conference.
After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled his second season in charge, the Oles reappeared as a new team in 2021. He guided St. Olaf to a 19-3-1 record, the MIAC regular-season title, and an appearance in the ‘Sweet 16’ round of the NCAA Tournament. He was named both the 2021 MIAC Coach of the Year and the 2021 United Soccer Coaches Region IX Staff of the Year. The 2021 Oles had a top-10 scoring offense and two players named to All-America teams. They tied for the most wins in the country while also orchestrating a 15-game winning streak, which tied for the longest in the country. The Oles reached a national ranking as high as No. 10.
In 2022, the Oles went 15-5-2, won the MIAC Tournament, and made another showing in the NCAA Tournament. The Oles navigated the nation’s hardest non-conference strength of schedule and again were a top-10 scoring offense in NCAA DIII. Two more players were named to All-America teams after another strong season, and the Oles became one of only five teams in the country to make return trips to the NCAA ‘Sweet 16.’
Wall’s teams had two players named MIAC Rookie of the Year, two MIAC Offensive Players of the Year, eight All-Region players, one Academic All-American, and three players named All-Americans for four total selections. His St. Olaf teams compiled a record of 43-18-3 (.695) and a conference record of 22-7-1 (.750), and the 34 combined wins over the 2021 and 2022 seasons tied for fifth-most in NCAA DIII.
Prior to his time at St. Olaf, Wall was assistant coach for two years and associate head coach for two more years at Ohio Wesleyan. During that span, he recruited three North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Newcomers of the Year, and the Battling Bishops made the NCAA Tournament three times.
Wall also carries three seasons of high-level club coaching experience as the head coach of the U19 Ohio Premier Soccer Club Green team and was named the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Midwest Regional Coach of the Year. In 2018, he led the team to the U19 ECNL National Championship with a team that had eight members sign to play for Division I programs, including Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) National Player of the Year Luke Kiley. The team finished fifth at the US Youth Soccer (USYS) Nationals in 2017 and was a semifinalist in 2016.
In 2014, Wall served as the Director of Soccer Operations at NCAA DI Xavier University. The Musketeers went 15-6-2 and advanced to the ‘Sweet 16’ of the NCAA Tournament. At Xavier, he worked with the 2014 Big East Staff of the Year during a season where the Musketeers set program records for wins, shutouts, and goals against average.
During his collegiate playing days, Wall was a two-time first-team All-American, captain of Ohio Wesleyan’s 2011 national championship team, and the 2011 NSCAA National Player of the Year. As a senior, Wall finished fifth in the country in points (53), ninth in goals (19), and fourth in assists (15) as a member of the third-highest-scoring team in the country. Over his four-year career at OWU, Wall’s teams went a combined 78-11-5 (.856). He was named to the NCAC’s All-Decade Team and, after taking his place among Ohio Wesleyan’s top-five all-time career leaders in goals (49), assists (36), and points (134), was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022 joining both his siblings Sarah and Tyler who were both standouts for the Battling Bishops soccer teams. Following his college career, Wall played two years of professional soccer for Minnesota United FC in 2012 and 2013 in the North American Soccer League.
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