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ROGER REINA: HEAD WRESTLING COACH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA


 

A Hall of Fame coach and multiple-time EIWA and Ivy League champion, Penn alumnus Roger Reina C'84, WEV'05 began his second stint as head coach at his alma mater in 2017-18 and is now in his 23rd season overall as head coach at Penn.

Reina has produced 3 straight nationally recognized recruiting classes upon his return to the coaching ranks. His 2019 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 in the country following a 2018 group which was ranked No. 12 by WIN Magazine.

In his first three seasons back on the bench for #TheMovement, Reina has coached nine NCAA Championships qualifiers, twelve All-Ivy performers an EIWA champion, and multiple national freestyle All Americans.

Reina originally led the Quakers from 1986-2005 and amassed a program-record 205 wins during his first tenure coaching at his alma mater, which began at the age of 24 as the youngest head coach in the nation.

He guided the Quakers to four EIWA championships and eight Ivy League titles during his initial run as

 

head coach, and recruited and coached a pair of NCAA champions (Brett Matter, Matt Valenti) as well as an Olympic Gold Medalist (Brandon Slay).

Reina led Penn to five NCAA Top 20 finishes in a six-year span including a Top 10 NCAA finish and two eighth-place finishes at the National Dual Meet Championships.

In 2017, Reina was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Pennsylvania chapter for his dedicated service to the sport of wrestling across all levels. He also was inducted into the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008 as a member of Class VI, and is a member of the EIWA Hall of Fame.

Reina served on a Philadelphia team that won the 2025 NCAA Championship bid, and served as chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the 2011 NCAA Championships which set record attendance numbers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

The Roger Reina File
  • Penn’s All-Time Winningest Coach (219)
  • Four-Time EIWA Team Champions
  • Eight-Time Ivy League Champion
  • Owns a Winning Record Against All Active Ivy League Head Coaches
  • Three-Time EIWA Coach of the Year
  • Coached 17 NCAA All-Americans, including eight NCAA semi-finalists
  • Coached 31 EIWA Champions
  • Has coached age group national freestyle champions at every age level offered in the United States
 

Matt Valenti: Associate Head Wrestling Coach at UPenn & Camp Director


 

A two time NCAA Champion, Matt Valenti joins the Penn Wrestling Camps staff as the new Associate Head Coach at the University of Pennsylvania.

Valenti is the program's career leader in wins (137) and won NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007 at 133 pounds. He was a three-time NCAA All-American, a three-time EIWA champion, three-time first-team All-Ivy selection and the 2007 Ivy League Wrestler of the Year. Valenti was inducted into the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017 and the EIWA Hall of Fame in 2014.

Among post-graduate freestyle honors, Valenti won the bronze medal at 60 kg at the Pan-American Championships and third place for the LVAC at the 2009 U.S. National Open. He also placed fourth at a U.S. World Team Trials in a weight class featuring five former or future World Team members.

Valenti began his coaching career as an assistant and then associate head coach at Columbia from 2007-09, before returning to Penn as an assistant wrestling coach from 2009-15. At Penn, he coached four All-Americans (Scott Giffin, Zack Kemmerer, Micah Burak, and Lorenzo Thomas), two EIWA champions (Bryan Ortenzio, Micah Burak), and eight first-team All-Ivy honorees in addition to recruiting a pair of top 20 classes.

 
He transitioned to athletic administration in 2015 as the Assistant Athletic Director/Recruiting for two years and has served Penn Athletics in various administrative roles over the past decade including Associate AD/Sports Performance & Student-Development (2017-19), Associate AD/Student-Athlete Success (2019-23) and his most recent role as Senior Associate AD/Student-Athlete Leadership and Development.

Valenti has served as the sport administrator for numerous Penn varsity programs, including wrestling, was the chair of the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee for two years, and is currently on the NCAA Wrestling Committee.
 

Doug Zapf: Assistant Coach at UPenn


 

Doug joins our staff after a successful Senior Level Freestyle career with the PRTC.

A Poland Open bronze medalist, he is a U23 National Champion and US World Team member.

Doug graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a three time NCAA Championship qualifier.

A state champion from Downingtown, PA, Doug is eager to make a difference in the lives of others through the sport of wrestling.

 

 

Brandon Slay: Executive Director and Head Coach of the PRTC


 

Hailing from Amarillo, Texas, Brandon is 3X Texas State Wrestling Champion. After high school, Brandon went on to graduate from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a dual concentration in Entrepreneurial Management and Finance in 1998. He is a 2X NCAA All-American and a 2X NCAA Finalist. He earned All-Ivy League status all four years in college and was the 1993 Ivy League Rookie of The Year.

At the open level, Brandon made his mark by winning the 2000 US Open in freestyle where he was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Later that summer, Brandon rose to worldwide acclaim by winning the Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

As a coach, Brandon has experienced great success. From 2009-2016, Brandon was USAW Assistant National Coach and Head Wrestling Coach at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

 

From 2014-2016, he was the USAW National Development Coach responsible for winning 7 World Golds and 19 overall medals with the Cadets and Juniors.

Brandon is a distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the University of Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the EIWA Hall of Fame, and the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.

 

Kevin McGuigan: Director of Operations


 

Kevin McGuigan joined #TheMovement as the Director of Operations in July 2021

McGuigan is a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler and coach. Having been involved with wrestling since he was five years old, McGuigan coached for 34 years before taking on an administrative role. He competed collegiately at Shippensburg University before starting his coaching career in 1987 at his high school alma mater Upper Darby High School in Southeastern Pennsylvania. At Upper Darby, for seven seasons, he coached several state qualifiers and medalists including a state finalist while helping the program win their first Central League Championship in 15 years. He created and coached a summer wrestling program that attracted elite wrestlers from around the region. 

In 1994, McGuigan was hired as the Head Assistant Wrestling Coach at George Mason University. In the three years he was with the program, the Patriots had 12 NCAA Division 1 National Qualifiers, an All-American, two rookie All-Americans, and several Academic All-Americans. The team won the CAA Championship every year that McGuigan was on staff while breaking the scoring record each time. 

 

He coached two athletes at the 1996 US Olympic Team Trials. One of those athletes, Johnny Curtis, qualified for the US National Team at 90kg.

McGuigan received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from George Mason. He moved to Southern New Jersey, where he became an Assistant Coach at Washington Township High School. He coached a number of state medalists and a state champion while with the Minutemen.  McGuigan is among only a few coaches who have coached in the high school state finals of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

While coaching in high school, McGuigan worked with Roger Reina as a coach for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club. At the same time, he created a non-profit youth wrestling club in South Jersey. Patriot Wrestling Club has been in operation for 18 years and is now run by former Patriot wrestlers. McGuigan also coached with former Penn Head Coach Rob Eiter at the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club. 

McGuigan is also the Director of Operations for the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center and the Grants Coordinator for Beat the Streets Philadelphia. He is a board member for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Wrestlers in Business Network and the creator of the Philly Wrestling social media accounts.

 

PENNSYLVANIA OLYMPIC REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER (PRTC) COACHES & RESIDENT ATHLETES

Representatives from the PRTC will be on site as clinicians at each of our camp locations, and will vary depending upon their training, competition and travel availabilities. These include:

 
Brandon Slay:
• Executive Director and Head Coach of the PRTC
• Olympic Gold Medalist
• 2x NCAA Finalist at the University of Pennsylvania

 
Jordan Burroughs:
• Olympic Gold Medalist
• 6x World Champion
• 2x NCAA Champion at the University of Nebraska

 
Joey McKenna:
• Pan American Gold Medalist
• 5x USA National Team Member
• 4x NCAA All-American at Ohio State

Jay Aiello:
• NCAA All-American
• U23 World Team Member
• U23 World Bronze Medalist
• US Senior Nationals Bronze Medalist

 
*Representatives from the PRTC will be on site as clinicians at each of our camp locations. This will vary depending upon their training, competition, and travel availability.


Camps/clinics are open to any and all entrants (limited only by number, age, grade, level, and/or gender)

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