Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Russell Rogers announced the promotion of Anthony Bonaventura to the ninth head coach in program history. Bonaventura has been at Stevens since 2015 in both an assistant and associate head coach capacity.
Bonaventura joined the wrestling program in 2015 after one season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Waynesburg University. He has been an integral part of the Ducks’ successes, helping to coach 24 regional and 44 conference champions since joining the fold.
In his first season as head coach in 2024-25, the Ducks claimed their fifth straight Regional Championship as Luke Hoerle, Ryan Smith, and Chris Stathopoulos won individual titles. Those three, along with Harrison Hinojosa, Joel Martinovsky, and Blaise Wagner qualified for the NCAA Championships, with Stevens placing 18th overal and Smith and Hoerle earning All-American status.
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As a program, Stevens Wrestling has reached significant milestones since Bonaventura first arrived in Hoboken, capturing conference championships in each of his seasons on the sidelines. Stevens earned its first team trophy at the Division III Championships in 2018 with a fourth-place finish and in addition to becoming the program’s first national champion, Kaliner was also the Ducks’ first national finalist. Additionally, with the Ducks’ incredibly success at the regional level, Bonaventura was named Regional Assistant Coach of the Year on three different occasions.
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Bonaventura graduated from Waynesburg with his bachelor’s degree in 2014 and went on to earn his master’s one year later. He was a two-time NCAA national qualifier in addition to being named the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference's Most Outstanding Wrestler in 2013. As a senior, the Commack, New York native was an NCAA national finalist and earned All-America recognition. His second-place finish as a senior marked the highest finish at nationals for a Yellow Jacket to that point.
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No stranger to success in the classroom as well, Bonaventura was selected as Waynesburg's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2014. He also hosts a highly successful Division III wrestling podcast, D3 Nation, with his brother Gennaro, while also spearheading the Duck Insider podcast about all things Stevens Wrestling.
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