Luke Smith is entering his seventh season as the Head Wrestling Coach at Cal State Bakersfield in Fall of 2025. Smith was named Head Coach in June of 2020, after serving as Interim Head Coach in 2019-20 and as the team's Lead Assistant Coach the previous two seasons.
In his first six seasons at the helm of the Bakersfield program, his squads have produced one All-American, eight NCAA Qualifiers, three Pac-12 Champions, ten Academic All-Pac-12 honorees, six NWCA All-Academic Team members, and two CSC Academic All-District honorees.
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Smith landed one of the biggest recruits in the history of CSUB Wrestling, signing former NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari to the Roadrunner squad. Smith helped Ferrari return to prominence after spending nearly two years away from collegiate competition, guiding him to All-American honors anda third-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Smith had been an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University since 2011 and was promoted to the head assistant wrestling position in 2014. In his last season with the Eagles, he helped produce a school-record five national qualifiers and the program's first All-American since 1999. The Eagles also had three Academic All-Americans and placed third at the Mid American Conference Tournament.Â
Prior to Eastern Michigan, Smith spent three seasons at Old Dominion University.  He started his coaching career at Central Michigan University from 2008-09 after a successful four-year career with the Chippewas. Â
Smith was a four-time NCAA qualifier at Central Michigan and was ranked as high as fourth in the country at 125 pounds. During his senior season, he led the Chippewas to a No. 2 national ranking, which was the highest in program history. He also earned MAC Freshman of the Year after the completion of his first season in Mount Pleasant. He currently holds the record for two of the top ten fastest pins in Central Michigan history clocking in at 11 and 13 seconds, thus giving him the nickname "Lightning" Luke Smith.Â
Smith earned a bachelor's degree at CMU in 2008 in Sports Management and Athletic Coaching. Â
In 2004, he finished fourth at the Greco-Roman Olympic Trials and came in fourth again in 2006 at the Senior Freestyle World Team Trials. Also in 2006, he finished eighth at the University Freestyle World Championships. Â
As a prep athlete, Smith was a two-time Wisconsin state champion and produced a 114-2 record. Â
