WILKES-BARRE, PA (August 23, 2023) -- A long-time member and asset to the King's College wrestling program will step into a new role ahead of the 2023-24 season as alumnus Christian Mazzocchi will take over the team as the fourth head coach in the program's history, as announced on Wednesday morning by Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Cheryl Ish. Mazzocchi replaces Josh Roosa who spent three seasons at King's and helped rebuild the Monarch wrestling program to a regional and national competitor status.
 
"I am extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead a great group of young men," said Mazzocchi. "I am here for these guys and will always be here for them. My loyalty is to this program and the school, upon which I pride myself. These guys are everything to me, and I am grateful to them."
 
Mazzocchi is entering his 14^th year at King's, spending four years as a wrestler, team captain, and starter and as a 2014 graduate of the College. The Madison, N.J. native then returned to the program for the past nine seasons as an assistant coach and was instrumental in the rebuild under Roosa the last three seasons.
 
"Christian has been an integral part of this program for many years," stated Ish. "He wrestled for the legendary Coach McGinley before moving into an assistant coaching role. Along the way he consistently demonstrates his loyalty to King's and to the rich tradition of our wrestling program. Christian embodies what it means to be a Monarch, and we are lucky to have him step up to take on this new role."
 
Over the past nine seasons, Mazzocchi was a part of two top-ranked academic teams, as the 2015 and 2016 Monarch squads recorded the top team GPA in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) release in both 2015 and 2016. Most recently, Mazzocchi played a large role in coaching recent graduate Kade Kravits to an NCAA Division III National Championship appearance in 2022, marking the first King's wrestler to appear in the national tournament since 2014.
 
"It will always be about the student-athletes on this team, and I am here to help guide them through a small but important part of their lives," added Mazzocchi. "I can't wait to see all the accomplishments these young men will have this year. Thank you to everyone for the support. Thank you, Cheryl, for the opportunity and of course thank you to my wife Shelby and daughter Olive, for supporting me during the season! Go Monarchs!"
 
Off the mat, Mazzocchi served as a United States Army Veteran for nine years and was the Platoon Sergeant in the Army Reserves. He served our country in his deployment to Afghanistan in 2017 as part of the Operation Freedoms Sentinel.