PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.  Western Colorado's Donovan McMahill on Friday evening was inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches of America's Jim Koch Division II Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2024.

The members of the inductee class combined for 24 NCAA D-II All-American finishes; 10 D-II national champions; 17 D-II national finalists; 27 D-II national qualifiers; 3 wrestlers who would earn D-I All-American finishes; 2 NCAA D-II championship Outstanding Wrestler Awards; and 1 D-II Wrestler of the Year.

That last honor was earned by McMahill in 2011, a year in which he also earned the national championship's outstanding wrestler honor in winning his second consecutive individual title.

McMahill qualified for nationals each of his four years in representing Western Colorado, earning his initial All-American honor in his first season by getting to the national championship match at 197 pounds as a freshman before winning titles his junior and senior seasons in that weight class.

After watching a practice on his recruiting trip, McMahill knew that he wanted to be a Mountaineer. "The guys at Western have grit," he saw. "I needed some of that and if I could train with them every day, I could obtain it. From the moment I made that decision to become a Mountaineer I began to believe just a little that I was gritty."

McMahill used that grit to eventually capture his first national title in 2010 but heading into nationals in 2011 he was feeling some pressure. "Guys weren't opening up against me, they were just trying to keep it close," he remembers. A talented and familiar foe could await in the semifinals, one that McMahill – as the returning champion – felt could have been seeded on the other side of the bracket where their match could potentially become the title bout.

The seeding didn't matter, though. McMahill would go on to capture the crown for a second consecutive year, further fulfilling what his then coach, current Director of Athletics Miles Van Hee, said to him in McMahill's freshman meeting. "I told him I wanted to be an All-American. Van Hee's response was, 'you're selling yourself short.'"

A career record of 137-20 included a 51-match winning streak to complete his years representing the Mountaineers, a run that included the third of his three NCAA Regional crowns and the 2011 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Year award.

The 2008 RMAC Freshman of the Year, McMahill was inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and he continues his time at Western Colorado as the Mountaineer wrestling program's assistant coach.