American University

Joey Dance joined the American University wrestling staff as an assistant coach in September, 2021. Dance came to AU after three years as an assistant coach at Davidson.

For a second year in a row in 2023-24, the third season for Dance at American, he helped coach an NCAA qualifier as Maximilian Leete (133 pounds) placed fifth at the EIWA Championships to earn an automatic spot.

In his second season at AU, Dance helped coach sophomore Jack Maida (133 pounds) to a fifth-place finish at the EIWA Championships and a qualifying spot at the NCAA Championships. With Dance's guidance, Maida has been a placewinner at the EIWA Championships in all three years of his career after placing fourth in 2022. The Eagles went from a single dual win in 2021-22 to eight dual wins in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, and they ranked 15th overall in NCAA Division I team GPA in 2021-22 with five NWCA Scholar All-Americans.

While at Davidson, Dance assisted in the hire of the program's first-ever full-time second assistant coach. The 2019 Wildcats tied for the most points ever scored by a Davidson team at the conference championships, and eight wrestlers achieved SOCON All-Academic recognition. Dance coached three of the top-three conference finishers, three academic All-SOCON team members, three who made the All-SOCON Freshman Team and NCWA Scholar All-American Kyle Gorant.
 
As a two-time All-American at Virginia Tech, Dance posted a career mark of 114-20 and lost just a single ACC bout in four seasons. He was a three-time ACC Champion and qualified for the NCAA Championships all four years of his career. Dance was both a fourth and a fifth-place finisher at the NCAA Championships, and is one of only two 125-pound All-Americans for Virginia Tech. In 2014, he was the ACC Freshman of the year as well as the Midlands Champion, and in 2016 he was the Cliff Keen Champion.

Dance is ranked fourth at VT with a career winning percentage of 85.0, and fifth in single-season dual wins with 18. His 114 career wins rank seventh, as does his NCAA winning percentage of 63.6. 
 
Dance graduated from Virginia Tech in 2017 and went on to compete at the Chicago Regional Training Center (CRTC) in national and international competitions. He also helped instruct fellow CRTC athletes by demonstrating technique and prepping them for competition. Dance started Push Wrestling to help organize and market clinics for local elementary, middle and high school-aged kids.

Dance and his wife, Sarah Jean-Duffau Dance, reside in Falls Church, Va. The pair were married in June, 2020.