Shawn Nelson has been the head coach of the University of Findlay wrestling team for 27 seasons.

Since 1997, he has built his program to be known as a tournament ready team. His teams have never shied away from wrestling dual meets with nationally ranked and NCAA Division I opponents and his squads have produced a 180-217 record in duals during his tenure with the program.

With Nelson as the head coach, the Roughnecks have had nine NCAA Division II national champions and three national champs at the NAIA level. James Wimer (2021), Ben Sergent (2014), Michael Lybarger (2011), Antonio Guerra (2006, 2007), Andy Uhl (2005) and Waylon Lowe (2002, 2003, 2004) all won NCAA Division II titles under Nelson's leadership while Jimmie Sanfilippo (1999) and Quantres Bates (1998, 1999) won titles in the NAIA.

Nelson has also coached the Roughnecks to a total of 50 NCAA Division II All-America honors and has consistently had the Roughnecks ranked in the national poll. He has also seen 21 individuals earn first team all-conference accolades during his time as the head coach. He has also been named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year twice (2012 and 2016) and was tabbed the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2012. In 2023, the Roughnecks won their first-ever Great Midwest Wrestling Championship. Nelson was later named the Super Region III Coach of the Year by the NWCA.

Nelson graduated from Penn State University in 1994 and was an NCAA Division I All-American in wrestling. At Penn State, Nelson earned a bachelor's degree in administration of justice. Among his many accomplishments on the mat, Nelson won a championship at the 1993 Michigan Open, finished second at the 1993 Midlands, and placed third at the 1990 Sunkist International Tournament. Other notable accomplishments include finishing fourth in the 126-pound weight class at the NCAA Championships and third at the annual Big Ten Meet. He also ranks among the top all-time at Penn State in career pins and is a former three-time Ohio high school state champion for North Royalton High.

He served as a volunteer assistant at Michigan State University during the 1994-95 season, a year that saw the Spartans finish third at the NCAA Division I Nationals. Nelson also travels frequently throughout the Midwest in the off-season to speak at various wrestling camps and clinics.

Nelson is a 2019 inductee into the Jim Koch NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame and in 2020 was awarded the Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).