Thomas More College has announced that Mark DiSalvo will be the first wrestling coach for the Saints when they begin competition next season. DiSalvo has coached at Cornell and his alma mater Central Michigan where he was a two time NCAA All-American. He has most recently been running the DiSalvo Wrestling School and assisting at Dayton Christian High School. Read on for more from Thomas More Athletic Communications

Mark DiSalvo Named Thomas More Head Wrestling Coach

Feb 02, 2016
(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – Thomas More College President David A. Armstrong, J.D. and Director of Athletics Terry Connor have announced the hiring of Mark DiSalvo as the first-ever head wrestling coach at Thomas More.

DiSalvo, who brings five-years of intercollegiate wrestling coaching experience to Thomas More, will build the Saints’ program from the ground up as the 2016-17 season will be the program’s inaugural season. He started his coaching career at Cornell University during the 2006-2007 season. While at Cornell, DiSalvo coached three All-Americans and helped the team finish 12th at the NCAA Division I Championship. He spent the next four seasons at Central Michigan University, where he coached 12 All-Americans including two NCAA individual finalists. DiSalvo helped coach the Chippewas to a seventh, 12th, 13th, and 14th place finish at the NCAA Championships during his four seasons at Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

“I would like to thank President Armstrong and Athletic Director Terry Connor for the opportunity to launch and lead the Thomas More College Wrestling Program,” stated DiSalvo. “I am encouraged by the decision to add wrestling and motivated to develop an elite student-athlete experience for all who wear the Saints singlet. I am excited to increase my involvement in the regional wrestling community ensuring Thomas More Wrestling evolves into a developmental resource for Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio. My family and I are very passionate about the preservation and growth of this great sport and thrilled to have the opportunity to launch and lead this program.”

DiSalvo was a two-year letter winner in wrestling at Central Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts, Sports Management and a Master of Science, Administration. During his wrestling career at Central Michigan, he was a two-time NCAA All-American and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Academic. DiSalvo was an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient and was a two-year Mid-American Conference Commissioners Award honoree, while also earning the Harry Richards Coaches Award at Central Michigan. During college he earned an invitation to train at the United States Olympic Training Center, taking an Olympic redshirt in 2004.

“We are extremely excited to have Mark DiSalvo as the College’s first-ever head wrestling coach,” commented Connor. “He has a tireless work ethic, has coaching experience in successful intercollegiate programs and is an excellent teacher of the sport of wrestling. We are very confident that he will build a program that will be among the conference and region’s best academically and athletically.”

Recently, DiSalvo has been the president of the Greater Cincinnati Wrestlers in Business, volunteer coach at Dayton Christian High School and has ran the DiSalvo Wrestling School in Waynesville, Ohio. He resides in Waynesville with his wife, Leslie and son Willard.

Thomas More announced wrestling as the 22nd varsity sport in November and the program will begin competing during the 2016-17 academic year.