Coaches

Matt Sedivy

Matt Sedivy

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

A young Dakota Wesleyan University wrestling squad showed flashes of greatness and potential in 2011-12, and in 2012-13, head coach Matt Sedivy hopes to tap into that potential and put together another successful season.

Sedivy coached 10 wrestlers who qualified for the NAIA National Championships in his third season as head coach, and eight of those 10 qualifiers were underclassmen. The 2006 DWU alumnus also helped a school-record five wrestlers earn All-GPAC accolades, including the first first-team honoree since 2007.

Freshmen Kyle Gerlach (157) and Trever DeVestern (157) and sophomore Richard Rios (133) all came one win away from placing rounds at the national tournament and look to get back again this season to get another shot at becoming an All-American. Sophomore Tyler Sarringar and freshman Dominic Smothers – both 174-pound wrestlers for the Tigers – and Danny Hutcheson (165) each picked up one win at the national tournament. Dusty Paulsen (141), Nick Hutcheson (165) and heavyweights Josh Geppert and Eric Gruis also qualified for nationals.

DeVestern made history in his first season with the Tigers. He became the first freshman in program history to earn All-GPAC First Team honors, and also set the school record for wins (41) and pins (24) in a season. Sarringar took over the career record for reversals with 59 after two seasons, and Danny Hutcheson graduated with the career record for near falls (110), and he also finished his career fourth on the school’s all-time wins list with an 85-52 record. Nick Hutcheson (50-36), Sarringar (49-40) and Rios (48-28) also made their way onto the wins chart.

Other All-GPAC performers for DWU included Gerlach, Nick Hutcheson and Rios, who earned second-team accolades, and Paulsen, who was named honorable mention. As a team, the Tigers set school records for individual wins (266), individual winning percentage (.500) and pins (92) in a season.

Sedivy also made sure his wrestlers performed well in the classroom.  Senior Ray Rickenbach earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors for the second straight year, and Gerlach, Danny and Nick Hutcheson, Paulsen 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 3.26 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.