Coaches

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Matt Sedivy

Head Wrestling Coach
Dakota Wesleyan University ’06
South Dakota State University ’08
masedivy@dwu.edu
605-995-2149

The Dakota Wesleyan University wrestling team put together one of its most successful seasons in recent memory in 2010-11, and head coach Matt Sedivy hopes to replicate and improve upon that success in his third season with the Tigers in 2011-12.

Sedivy, a 2006 DWU alumnus, helped guide eight wrestlers to the NAIA National Championships, helped one of his wrestlers to a huge upset and All-American status, and also made sure his team performed to the best of their ability in the classroom.

Junior heavyweight Josh Geppert became the 13th All-American in DWU wrestling history in March at the NAIA National Championships.  Geppert upset the nation’s top-ranked heavyweight to advance to the semifinals at the national meet before suffering his first loss.  He finished in sixth.

Richard Rios (133) and Tyler Sarringar (165) also picked up at least one win at the national meet in their first season with the Tigers.  Ryan Roach (141), Ray Rickenbach (149), Nick Hutcheson (157), Tanner LaValliere (165) and Eric Gruis (285) also qualified for the national meet.  The Tigers finished 18th at the national meet – their best finish since the 2003-04 season and just their sixth top-20 finish.

Sarringar set the school record for reversals in a season (31), and LaValliere finished his four-year career with school records for escapes (210) and near falls (105) in a career.  As a team, Dakota Wesleyan set the school record for falls (68) in a season.

Sedivy also made sure his wrestlers performed well in the classroom.  Rickenbach earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors, and Rickenbach, Geppert, LaValliere, Hutcheson and Sarringar all earned individual recognition from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.  DWU also earned team honors and finished third in the team race with a cumulative 3.16 GPA.

The athletes aren’t the only ones working to improve in the offseason.  During the summer of 2010, Sedivy was one of 32 college wrestling coaches from around the country chosen to participate in the second annual National Wrestling Coaches Association Leadership Academy in Delray Beach, Fla.  The academy was started to help young wrestling coaches strengthen their programs and practices, as well as improve on CEO skills.  In May 2011, he was a leader for a group of DWU students on a week-long mission trip to Peru.

Sedivy came to his alma mater from Grand Island (Neb.) High School, where he was an assistant wrestling coach under former Tiger head coach Mike Schadwinkel.  Sedivy served as a student assistant coach during his time at Dakota Wesleyan, and he was a graduate assistant coach at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University for two seasons from 2006 to 2008.  From his previous experiences, Sedivy brings a strong passion for coaching, excellent knowledge of the sport and established connections in the South Dakota wrestling community to DWU.

While he was a graduate assistant with the Jackrabbits, Sedivy gained valuable college coaching experience under SDSU head coach Jason Liles, including coaching, recruiting and learning how to run a program.  Sedivy coached the Jackrabbits’ first NCAA Division I National Qualifier in addition to the three NAIA All-Americans he coached while at Dakota Wesleyan.

In 2008, Sedivy coached Grand Island to the Nebraska 2009 Class “A” State Championship.  His squad also had seven individual state finalists, four individual state champions, and set state records for scoring and pins at the state tournament.

Sedivy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education with a minor in coaching from Dakota Wesleyan in 2006.  He received a Master of Science degree in health, physical education and recreation with a specialization in sports pedagogy from South Dakota State University in 2008.  He was a member of the dean’s list and a recipient of Cum Laude honors and the Physical Education Alumni Medal.  Sedivy’s background also includes a mission trip to Peru in the summer of 2005.

He lives in Mitchell.

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Boomer Fechko

Graduate Assistant Wrestling Coach
Heidelberg University ’09
crfechko@dwu.edu

Boomer Fechko enters his second season as a graduate assistant coach for the Dakota Wesleyan University wrestling team in 2011-12.

In his first season with the team in 2010-11, Fechko, a Broadview Heights, Ohio, native, helped coach seven wrestlers who qualified for the NAIA National Championships.

Fechko graduated with a degree in business from Heidelberg University, an NCAA Division II school in Tiffin, Ohio, in 2009. He wrestled while at Heidelberg and earned NCAA Division II All-American honors.

Before coming to Dakota Wesleyan, Fechko was the head wrestling coach at Quincy High School in Quincy, Calif. He was also the assistant wrestling coach for the Legends of Gold club team in Quincy.

Fechko is pursuing a secondary certification and degree from the DWU master’s program.