Roger Reina is in his second stint overseeing the University of Pennsylvania wrestling program, and early returns are that #TheMovement is ready to achieve some of the lofty heights established during his historic first run from 1986-2005 that had him inducted into the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of Class VI in 2008.
Reina led a strong team during the 2023-24 campaign, with Penn winning the 2024 Midlands Championships team title for the first time in program history while seven Quakers placed at the tournament. The Red and Blue once again recorded a 4-2 in Ivy League action to earn nine All-Ivy awards led by CJ Composto on First Team All-Ivy. At the 120th EIWA Championships, eight Quakers found themselves on the podium, with Composto and Lucas Revano placing third to lead the charge. The Red and Blue brought eight wrestlers to Kansas City for the 2024 NCAA Championships, where Nick Incontrera won two bouts to highlight the outing.
The Quakers continued their success under Reina during the 2022-23 season, posting a 9-5 dual record highlighted by a 23-11 victory over # 20 Lehigh. Penn went 4-1 in Ivy League duals, allowing the Red and Blue to garner seven All-Ivy honors, led by Maximus Hale earning First Team All-Ivy. At the 119th EIWA Championships hosted at The Palestra, The Quakers placed third as a team, with eight grapplers placing at the Championships, headed by Michael Colaiocco, Carmen Ferrante, and Anthony Artalona placing second. After an outstanding showing at EIWAs, the Quakers earned eight qualifying spots at the NCAA Championships.
Reina's 2021-22 team entered the NWCA Coaches Poll for the first time since 2013, hitting #22 on February 8, 2022 and closing out the regular season ranked #18. The 21-22 squad was consistently receiving national recognition, as all ten starters received national weekly rankings. Penn went 8-2 in dual meets which included a 7-1 record against EIWA opponents and a 4-1 record in Ivy duals. At the 118th EIWA Championships, Penn saw all ten wrestlers earn place finishes led by Michael Colaiocco who won at 133 pounds while CJ Composto, Anthony Artalona, and Nick Incontrera all placed second in their weight classes. Following that performance, the Quakers earned a program-record nine qualifying spots to the NCAA Champions but brought ten wrestlers to Detroit as senior and Michigan native Neil Antrassian was named the alternate at 184 pounds.
Reina has produced four straight nationally recognized recruiting classes following his return to the coaching ranks. His 2019 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 in the country by TheOpenMat.com, No. 14 by FloWrestling and No. 17 by Intermat following a 2018 group which was ranked No. 12 by WIN Magazine, No. 13 by TheOpenMat.com, No. 21 by FloWrestling and No. 24 by Intermat.
In his first three seasons back leading #TheMovement, Reina has coached 15 NCAA Championships qualifiers, 17 All-Ivy performers and two EIWA champions. In 2018-19, Reina coached a young Quakers team which was led by EIWA champion Anthony Artalona who would go on to reach the Round of 12 at NCAAs and garner NWCA Scholar All American honors.
In 2019-20, the Quakers saw strong progress doubling the number of EIWA Conference podium performances, before the NCAA Championships were cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Colaiocco earned All-American honors from the NWCA. His All-America honor tops an impressive freshman-year resume which includes a second-team All-Ivy selection, a third-place finish at the prestigious Ken Craft Midlands Championships, and a first-place finish at the Keystone Classic. Penn also had two student-athletes earn EIWA Academic Achievement honors.
Committed to the Olympic styles of wrestling as well, Penn undergrads have garnered All-American finishes 25 times in freestyle and Greco Roman over the past three seasons, including two finals appearances in freestyle and two in Greco Roman. Notably in freestyle, Michael Colaiocco earned the finals in the 2020 U23 Nationals with a big semi-final 8-5 win over Iowa’s Austin DeSanto, and Ryan Miller gained the finals of the 2021 UWW Junior Nationals before going on to a Silver Medal in the Pan American Junior Championships. In Greco Roman Jake Hendricks earned the finals of the 2020 U23’s, and won the 2020 UWW Junior Nationals while also gaining All American status in Freestyle.
Reina originally led the Quakers from 1986-2005 and amassed a program-record 205 wins and a .649 winning percentage during his first tenure coaching at his alma mater, which began at the age of 24 as the youngest head coach in program history. He guided the Quakers to four consecutive EIWA championships including setting records for most points ever scored and largest margin of victory that stand today. Penn earned eight Ivy League titles during his initial run as head coach, and he 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 additionally two eighth-place finishes at the National Dual Meet Championships.
Throughout his career as a wrestler, coach, mentor, alumnus and administrator, Reina’s focus has been on the betterment of his alma mater’s wrestling program and the growth of the sport in his hometown of Philadelphia.
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.
Reina currently serves as a coach and Board Member for the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC). Designated by USA Wrestling under the US Olympic Committee, the PRTC serves as an elite training opportunity for wrestlers at all age levels from cadet to Olympic levels. The PRTC is led by Penn alumnus and Olympic Champion Brandon Slay W’98, who Reina recruited and coached at Penn to 2 NCAA finals appearances and in Slay’s championship performances at the US Open and US Olympic Trials on his way to Olympic Gold Medal performance in Sydney, Australia.
Following the end of his first tenure with the Red and Blue in 2005, Reina remained active in the wrestling community. In addition to his work to launch the PRTC and foster its partnership with Beat the Streets Philly, Reina 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. He also chaired the host committee for the 2014 NWCA All-Star Classic held at The Palestra, and was involved in bringing the 2017 Maccabiah Games Trials to The Palestra.
From 2015-17, Reina served as a Penn Athletics administrator as Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs. In that role, he had oversight of all external-facing efforts of Penn Athletics including Athletic Communications, Marketing and New Media, Sponsorship, Business Development, and Ticketing. In addition, Reina served as Executive Director of The Penn Relays, the world’s largest track and field event held each April at Penn’s Franklin Field.
