Sports
Clarion Wrestling Welcomes New Coaches
Assistant Coach Troy Letters and Head Coach Matt Dernlan (Justin Gmoser / The Clarion Call)
On July 5, Clarion University hired Matt Dernlan as its new head wrestling coach.
Dernlan replaces former head coach, Teague Moore, who took over head coaching at American University.
This marks only the sixth head coach Clarion has hired since 1969.
Dernlan spent the past seven years at Penn State University, where he was an assistant coach and director of operations for head coach, Cael Sanderson.
Dernlan was on the staff last year as Penn State won the wrestling national championship.
That is just the start of his impressive résumé.
Not only was Dernlan on the staff when they won the title, but also when they took third in 2009.
Dernlan has coached 24 All-Americans, eight National Finalists and two National Champions.
He has also coached five wrestlers at the World Championships.
One of those wrestlers placed second.
Dernlan was also an impressive wrestler.
He won three Ohio State Championships, while posting an incredible record of 120-0 during those three years.
When Dernlan was a freshman he went 34-4, giving him an overall record of 154-4.
He went on to wrestle at Liberty University. Dernlan was inducted into the Ohio High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002.
Coach Dernlan expects big things from his wrestling team this season.
“We’re going to fight and compete for seven minutes every match. We want to position ourselves to be in the hunt for the National Title,” he said.
He said there is not much of a difference between here and Penn State.
“Wrestling is just as important here as it is at Penn State,” he said.
Not only did Clarion hire a new head coach but a new assistant coach as well.
On Sept. 14 Troy Letters was hired as first assistant wrestling coach.
Letters comes from Penn State with Dernlan.
He served as an assistant for three years there. He has also been an assistant coach at Princeton University.
Letters has an impressive résumé as well.
He wrestled at Lehigh University, where he placed second, first and third at nationals.
He has also coached numerous All-Americans, and National Title contenders.
Along with Dernlan, he has high expectations for the Golden Eagles.
“I want to put Eagles on the podium and on top of every podium,” Letters said.
If one thing is clear, it’s that both coaches have their sights set on winning not just PSAC’s and EWC’s, but the National Championship.
“It would be great to win PSAC’s or EWC’s here at Clarion, but our ultimate goal is to get Clarion on podiums come March,” Letters said.
“We hold everybody accountable. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been here three years or three weeks,” Coach Dernlan said.
Dernlan went on to say, “We want to win. We wouldn’t have come here if we didn’t think we could be a national power.”
If their own personal résumés are any indication, then the Clarion wrestling program will be in good hands for years to come.
Clarion will take the mat for the first time Nov. 6, as it hosts the Knight Point Open at the Clarion Rec Center.
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