Roger Reina enters his 26th season overall as head coach at Penn in 2023-24.
Reina has produced back-to-back-to back nationally recognized recruiting classes upon his return to the coaching ranks. His 2019 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 in the country by TheOpenMat.com, following a 2018 group which was ranked No. 12 by WIN Magazine. Over the course of Reina’s already Hall of Fame career, he has recruited the #1 ranked recruiting class in the nation in addition to many top-10 and top-20 classes.
In his first three seasons back on the bench for #TheMovement, Reina has coached 10 NCAA Championships qualifiers, nine All-Ivy performers, a freshman EIWA champion, a freshman NCAA All-American and two NCAA Round of 12 performers. Reina and his staff have also produced 16 USA Wrestling All-Americans in freestyle and greco roman in just two seasons.
Over the course of Reina’s career, he has coached Penn teams to NCAA top-20, top-15, and top-10 finishes on many occasions. His teams have won multiple EIWA and Ivy League titles, many of which were in dominant fashion and in successive years. Penn continues to hold EIWA records for most points ever scored, and largest margin of victory in a year the team advanced 8-of-10 to the EIWA finals and produced six individual champions
Reina has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame-Pennsylvania Chapter, the EIWA Hall of Fame, and Penn Athletics Hall of Fame. He has provided leadership at every level of our sport, and received the highest honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association for Meritorious Service, and served as its President as well as President of the EIWA and Chairman of the Ivy Wrestling coaches associations.
Joshua J. Harris Head Assistant Coach Bryan Pearsall begins his seventh season with the Quakers in 2023-24. He joined the staff as an assistant coach in 2017, earning a promotion to Head Assistant before the completion of his first season with the Red and Blue.
Pearsall has been instrumental in Penn's Top-25 recruiting classes each of the last six years, including the No. 9 overall class in 2019 and No. 12 class in 2018.
While at Penn, Pearsall has helped coach 26 NCAA Championships qualifiers, 29 All-Ivy wrestlers, three EIWA champions, and an Ivy Rookie of the Year.
B.J. Futrell joined Penn Wrestling as an assistant coach in July of 2021. It was a homecoming for Futrell as he competed for the Pennsylvania RTC for three years before retiring from competition in 2019. He has also spent time as an active mentor, coach, and most recently as the Mentoring Director with Beat the Streets Philadelphia.
Futrell was a three-time All-Big Ten performer at the University of Illinois, twice earning NCAA All-America honors. He was also a two-time selection for the NWCA All-Star Classic. During his injury shorten senior season, he was ranked #3 in the nation by W.I.N. Magazine and is the Illini program's all-time leader with 38 career pins. In the classroom, Futrell was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a two-time NWCA All-Academic honoree. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology in May of 2012 and went on to earn his Master of Education degree in educational policy studies from Illinois in December of 2013.
During his time with the PRTC, he became the PRTC's first USA National Team member competing successfully domestically and internationally. B.J. placed third at the 2017 U.S. World Team Trials and earned a top 10 world ranking in freestyle wrestling at 65 kg.
"That to keep them in health and to strengthen and render active their bodies they be frequently exercised in running, leaping, wrestling and swimming," Ben Franklin wrote these exact words in his proposal for the University of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, the founder of Penn drew plans for a wrestling facility in his original proposal.
The University of Pennsylvania wrestling team has produced 29 All-Americans, five NCAA Champions, three Olympians and one Olympic gold medalist. The Quakers have also six student-athletes earn Ivy League Wrestler of the Year honors, five wrestlers named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, 26 Academic All-Americans and 59 EIWA individual champions.
The Quakers won four consecutive EIWA Team titles from 1996-1999 and the Red and Blue are the current record holder for most points ever scored and largest margin of victory.
Penn has won 11 Ivy League team titles, including a stretch of seven straight years from 1996-2002. The team has brought home the Ivy League Championships in 1968, 1969, 1972, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Reina originally led the Quakers from 1986-2005 and amassed a program-record 205 wins and eight Ivy League Championships.
Reina’s teams have also produced a multitude of USA Wrestling All-Americans and National Champions, World Team and Olympic Trials place winners, finalists, and Olympic Champion Brandon Slay who now serves as the Pennsylvania Olympic Regional Training Center (PRTC) Head Coach and Executive Director.
The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC) is for “Senior Level” and “Age Level” wrestlers who desire to train in an environment that specializes in the international styles of Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling with the ultimate goal of becoming World and Olympic Champions. The PRTC is designed to ignite and fuel the Olympic Dream by providing a premier training environment, Olympic level coaches, and some of the best training partners in the world.
The PRTC’s mission is to enrich lives locally and globally through the sport of wrestling and accomplishes this by living out the core values of Faith over fear, Full effort, Struggle well, and Serve others.
Penn Wrestling has hosted their home competitions in the historic arena since its opening.
Palestra” means “House of Wrestling” in Greek. In addition to regular season dual meets, the Keystone Classic – an annual, season-opening tournament – has also called The Palestra home since 1995. Penn Wrestling has hosted several postseason competitions in The Palestra, including the prestigious Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships on multiple occasions. Widely recognized as one of the premier wrestling venues in the nation, Penn has also hosted three National Wrestling Coaches Association All Star Classic events, two Senior World Team Trials in freestyle, and the Olympic Trials in freestyle in the famous Palestra. The EIWA’s will be hosted by Penn in 2022.
It's no secret that Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia are a hub for collegiate wrestling. Penn alongside Drexel and PHL sports have been selected to host the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championship at the Wells Fargo Center.
Reina served on the committee which led the bid to bring the NCAA Championships to Philadelphia for the second time this decade. Reina served as Chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the record-setting NCAA’s in Philadelphia in 2011 as well.
More than 18,000 square feet has been dedicated to Penn’s varsity intercollegiate athletes, with state-of-the art equipment, running areas, advanced human performance technologies, and setups that are unique to the University.
Entering from 33rd Street, certainly the highlight and most dramatic element of the center is the 30 weightlifting racks that were uniquely made for Penn by Sorinex. These racks use more than 20,000 pounds of WerkSan barbells and plates, which are generally considered the finest of their kind in the world. The flooring and platform inlays, unique to Penn, were designed by Mondo Flooring. The room also boasts two running tracks with a special surface specifically designed by Mondo Flooring for maximum traction and durability.
Penn’s intercollegiate weight room also boasts more than 40 LifeFitness machines for cardio as well as muscle development; 18 heavy bags from Balazs for kickboxing drills; two complete dumbbell sets (up to 150-pound weights) from Intek; and dozens of medicine balls from M&F Athletics for ballistic training.
The Pottruck Wrestling Complex was renovated and expanded in 2000, and boasts mat space, team meeting area and film room, locker room, shower facilities, pullup bars, climbing ropes, and elevated cardio platform with auxiliary weight equipment.
As part of the George A. Weiss Pavilion inside Franklin Field, the University of Pennsylvania athletic department also unveiled the new, state-of-the-art Donald E. Frey Athletic Training Center in August 2010.
the 4,600-square-foot athletic training room boasts the latest in modality technology, hydrotherapy, cryotherapy, and rehabilitation equipment. Outfitted with two Polar Plunges, five Game ready machines, two Hivamat machines, light and laser therapy machines, and electrical stim and ultrasound machines, this room rivals any athletic training room in the country.
The Center for Student-Athlete Success (CSAS) creates a positive experience during the student-athlete lifecycle through a holistic approach to personal growth and development during their time at Penn.
Thanks to a gift from alumnus David S. Pottruck, the University of Pennsylvania has established the Penn Athletics Wharton Leadership Academy. This innovative new program — a partnership between the athletics department and the Anne and John McNulty Leadership Program at the Wharton School — was conceived by Pottruck to foster the leadership abilities of Penn student-athletes
The Wharton School of Business, the number one business school in the country, continues to set the global standard in business education. The combination of Division I athletics with the nation’s first and pre-eminent school of business is unique to the collegiate athletics landscape and differentiates Penn from its Ivy League and national peers in providing a world-class student-athlete experience.
Penn's beautiful tree-lined campus is an urban oasis in Philadelphia. Located in University City, Penn's country in the city provides campus comfort and a city lifestyle.
Listen to Cole Urbas talk about why he chose Penn.
A Message from Penn President Liz Magill.
Welcome to the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn has a proud tradition of translating knowledge into social-minded action that dates back to our founder, Benjamin Franklin. This tradition of active pragmatism, articulated in Franklin’s maxim “well-done is better than well-said,” lives today through the inclusive policies, innovative work, and impactful engagement of our faculty, students, and staff.
Our campus in Philly may be temporarily closed, but there are many ways to engage with Penn online.
The University of Pennsylvania offers a multitude of housing and dining options both on and off campus, all members of the University community can find the accommodations that make Penn feel like home.
Penn offers the ability to participate in social, political, and artistic activities that put learning into practice in a globally minded community.
From the one-of-a-kind Penn Museum and various galleries across campus, to accomplished student performances in music, dance, and theater, culture and the arts play a leading role in life at Penn.
Click the link below to learn more about unrivaled experience of attending an Ivy League institution.
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