Dakota Wesleyan University athletic director Curt Hart announced Tuesday afternoon that he has hired former Tiger wrestler and assistant coach Matt Sedivy to be the 10th head wrestling coach in school history.
Sedivy, a 2006 graduate of Dakota Wesleyan, emerged as the favorite from an excellent pool of candidates thanks to his passion for coaching, his knowledge of the sport and his ties to the school, the community and South Dakota wrestling. Hart said he is excited for Sedivy to pick up where former coach Josh Hardman left off.
“We’re extremely excited to announce Matt as the new DWU head wrestling coach,” Hart said Tuesday. “We felt very fortunate that a number of outstanding, qualified individuals were interested in the job, and it was great for us that one of our alumni emerged as our top candidate. Matt’s passion and enthusiasm for Dakota Wesleyan will make him a great fit here, and we think he’ll be able to take our wrestling program where we want it to go.”
In addition to his experience as a wrestler and a student assistant coach at Dakota Wesleyan, Sedivy also spent two years as a graduate assistant coach under Jason Liles at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., where he gained valuable experience coaching, recruiting South Dakota and the surrounding area and learning how to run a program. Sedivy coached SDSU’s first NCAA Division 1 National Qualifier in addition to three NAIA All-Americans during his time at DWU.
Most recently, Sedivy was an assistant wrestling coach at Grand Island Senior High School in Grand Island, Neb., under former DWU head wrestling coach Mike Schadwinkel. Sedivy coached Grand Island to the 2009 “Class A” State Championship. His squad also had seven individual state finalists, four individual state champions and it set state records for scoring and pins at the state tournament.
Sedivy received a Bachelor of Arts from Dakota Wesleyan in 2006 in Physical Education with a minor in coaching. He received a Master’s of Science from South Dakota State in 2008 in Health, Physical Education and Recreation with a specialization in Sports Pedagogy. 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.
The search for a new head wrestling coach began immediately after Hardman resigned in mid-April to become the head wrestling coach at the NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis. In four years at DWU, Hardman led the Tigers to a 15-35-1 dual record, and he coached three NAIA All-Americans, 24 National Qualifiers and seven All-GPAC wrestlers.
Sedivy, who spent one year as a student assistant under Hardman, will officially start at Dakota Wesleyan on June 15, but he will be on-campus, along with Hardman, to conduct the Tiger Youth Wrestling Camp for grades K-7 on June 4-5 at the Christen Family Recreation Wellness Center on the DWU campus. Sedivy inherits a talented team that features numerous returning upperclassmen, including one returning All-American, two returning All-GPAC selections and seven returning NAIA National Qualifiers.
Courtesy: DWU Sports Information.
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