Longtime Simon Fraser coach Abdou retires
Justin Abdou is retiring after a wrestling and coaching career spanning nearly four decades. He spent 25 years as a head coach at Simon Fraser University, leading the men's program from 2001 to 2025 and the women's program from 2017 to 2026. Abdou also served as an SFU assistant coach for several years while still competing.
He coached SFU to two U SPORTS men's team titles, in 2009 and 2010. The 2010 championship came the same weekend he and three of SFU's top wrestlers competed at the NAIA nationals, where one won an individual title. SFU athletes claimed varsity championships in two different countries on the same weekend, a first in university wrestling history.
On the women's side, Abdou's teams finished national runner-up three straight years, from 2018 to 2020. In 2023, SFU joined four other schools as inaugural women's wrestling members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the first NCAA Division II conference to sponsor the sport.
Abdou was named Canada West Men's Coach of the Year four times and RMAC Women's Coach of the Year in all three years the conference has sponsored the sport. He won U SPORTS Men's Coach of the Year in 2009. SFU wrestlers won 28 individual national titles during his tenure as head coach.
As a wrestler, Abdou represented Canada at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, placing 13th at 85 kilograms. He won gold at 82 kilograms at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia. His resume includes nine Wrestling Canada senior championships, nine age-group Canadian titles, two Canada Games gold medals, 15 international titles and 26 international medals. Abdou also won the 1990 USA Junior Nationals and 1991 U.S. University freestyle title, and he claimed four NAIA national titles at 177 pounds while competing for Simon Fraser from 1989 to 1993.