Matt Valenti
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| Born | April 12, 1984 Newton, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||
Events | Freestyle and Folkstyle | |||||||||||||||||
| College team | Penn Quakers | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Matt Valenti (born April 12, 1984) is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion wrestler from the University of Pennsylvania. He won the 133 pound weight class at the NCAA tournament in both 2006 and 2007 and finished in 5th place in 2004 at 125 pounds. He is the Roger Reina Head Wrestling Coach at the University of Pennsylvania.[1][2]
Wrestling career
Valenti, a Stillwater Township, New Jersey native, attended Kittatinny Regional High School where he was a two-time New Jersey state champion. He also earned a Junior National title in freestyle his senior year.
He was recruited and brought to Penn by former head coach Roger Reina, but was coached to both national titles by former coach, Zeke Jones. He wrestled at Penn with his younger brother Andy,[3] while the youngest sibling Derek was an All-American for the University of Virginia.[4]
Valenti currently holds Penn's career win record with 137 collegiate victories. He was a three-time EIWA champion, a four-time NCAA qualifier, and three-time first team All-Ivy selection. He was celebrated twice as EIWA Wrestler of the Year and was the Ivy League Wrestler of the Year in 2007. He was an Olympic hopeful, qualifying for the 2012 USA Olympic trials,[5] losing in the semifinals to Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott.[6] Valenti has been inducted into the Kittatinny Regional High School,[7] Sussex County Sports,[8] NJSIAA Region I,[9] EIWA[10] and Penn Athletics Hall of Fame.[11][12][13]
He is married to Kimberly Parsons Valenti, who is the head gymnastics coach at Ursinus College.[14]
References
- ↑ "Two-Time National Champion Matt Valenti C'07 Succeeds Roger Reina C'84 As Penn Head Wrestling Coach".
- ↑ "Matt Valenti - Roger Reina Head Coach of Wrestling - Staff Directory - University of Pennsylvania Athletics".
- ↑ "The Valenti's".
- ↑ "Valenti Joins Henrich as All-Americans at NCAA Championships". March 19, 2011.
- ↑ "Former Penn wrestler Valenti off to Olympic Trials".
- ↑ "Oklahoma State's Coleman Scott wins bronze medal at London Olympics". August 11, 2012.
- ↑ "KRHS Hall of Fame" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ↑ Sussex country sports hall of fame
- ↑ Hall of fame
- ↑ John Harman (January 6, 2014). "Dake, Jantzen, Valenti, Pottruck Named to EIWA Hall of Fame Class of 2014". Team USA. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ↑ "Hall of Fame Class X - Matthew P. Valenti C'07".
- ↑ "Matt Valenti Bio". Columbia Sports.
- ↑ "Matt Valenti Biography". Penn Athletics. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
- ↑ "Valenti Tabbed as New Gymnastics Coach". July 24, 2018.