Keith Ferraro

Keith Ferraro, a native of Brookville, will enter his 10th season as Clarion’s head wrestling coach in 2023-24. He was named head coach on December 16, 2014, after serving as interim head coach on September 25th.  Just the eighth head coach in program history, Ferraro has been integral in elevating the Golden Eagles back into the national spotlight.

 

The Golden Eagle program has made tremendous strides under Ferraro’s tutelage, with perhaps no more telling figure than the success at the NCAA Division I Championships in his tenure.  The team that Ferraro took over in 2014-15 went 1-16 in dual matches and sent no wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.  Since then the Golden Eagles have produced multiple NCAA qualifiers in all but one year, including four in 2017-18, tied for the most in a single season since the Golden Eagles sent five wrestlers to the 2004 Championships.

 

That steady drumbeat led to a crescendo during the 2022-23 season, when Will Feldkamp became Clarion’s first wrestler to place at the national championships in a decade. The 184-pounder placed seventh in his bracket, capping a season that saw him rank among the nation’s leaders in wins by fall.

 

The 2022-23 campaign was one to remember for other reasons as well. The Golden Eagles sent three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, including a pair of Mid-American Conference (MAC) champions in Feldkamp (184) and Seth Koleno (149). In addition, John Worthing was a finalist at 174 pounds, giving Clarion three NCAA qualifiers. The team finished third at the MAC Championships in Fairfax, Va. that year after showing well in the regular season, going 8-2 against conference foes from both the MAC East and West divisions. Clarion finished with an 11-6 overall record in dual matches.

 

Ferraro received accolades from national pundits for his work in guiding the Golden Eagles in 2022-23, as InterMat named him their MAC Coach of the Year.

 

Clarion has enjoyed dual match success under Ferraro, with the Golden Eagles turning into a formidable presence in a dual setting.  They improved by six wins from Ferraro’s first year to his second, and in 2017-18 the Golden Eagles recorded their first winning dual season since the 2002-03 season. All told, Clarion has won 63 dual matches in the last eight years under Ferraro, and have gone .500 or better in five of the last six years.

 

The Golden Eagles have rebounded to become leaders in the classroom as well as the wrestling room.  Clarion was recognized by the NCAA as being in the top 10 percent of the Academic Progress Rate (APR) report in both 2018-19 and 2019-20, the only wrestling program in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to earn recognition in either year.  In 2023 Clarion earned National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-America team honors for the entire squad as well as six individuals who earned Scholar All-America status. The Golden Eagles also placed eight wrestlers on the Academic All-MAC list.

 

Similar to their finish in the previous season, the Golden Eagles made a leap in the standings at the 2022 MAC Championships, placing fifth in the field with three top-three finishes and two finalists at the event in Athens, Ohio. Will Feldkamp and Joey Fischer made the finals of the 197 and 125 pound weight classes, respectively, while Ty Bagoly wrestled in a true second place match at 285 pounds. That capped a year where the Golden Eagles finished 9-7 in dual matches, including a 5-5 mark in MAC competition.

 

The Golden Eagles improved by five spots from the previous season at the 2021 MAC Championships, placing seventh in the field and placing four wrestlers on the podium in their respective weight classes. Greg Bulsak led the way by earning third place at 197 pounds, clinching a spot at the NCAA Championships for the fourth straight year. Max Wohlabaugh placed fourth at 184 pounds, while Kolby Ho and John Worthing also placed in the top-six.

 

Clarion enjoyed their first season as a MAC affiliate member in 2019-20, going 10-6 overall on the season and 7-4 against their conference opponents. Greg Bulsak became the program’s first-ever MAC Champion, claiming the title at 197 pounds, while Brock Zacherl took second place at 149 pounds. Both Bulsak and Zacherl earned spots at the NCAA Championships, while sophomore heavyweight Ty Bagoly garnered an at-large bid to the big dance for the first time in his career. Zacherl finished his career 14th on the all-time wins list with a 114-17 mark.

 

 

In 2018-19, Greg Bulsak and Evan Delong both qualified for the NCAA Championships, with Bulsak going for the second time in his career and Delong the first.  Their appearance at the NCAA Championships capped a season of resilience and grit by the Golden Eagles, as the team was beset by injuries and missed as many as five starters at one point during the year.  Clarion went 7-7 in dual matches and a 4-2 mark in the final season of EWL action, including the first win over Edinboro since the 2010-11 season. 

 

Greg Bulsak was named the 2018 EWL Freshman of the Year after reaching the finals of the 184-pound bracket at the EWL Championship and qualifying for the NCAA Championships, while Dustin Conti won the 197-pound title to punch his own ticket to the national tournament that year.  Brock Zacherl earned a high seed in the 141-pound bracket at the NCAA Championships and advanced to the quarterfinal round, and redshirt freshman Taylor Ortz earned his first trip to the NCAA Championships in 2018 as well.

 

The 2016-17 Golden Eagles finished with a 6-10 record in dual matches but still managed to impress by reaching the national stage, with Jake Gromacki (125) and Brock Zacherl (141) each qualifying for the NCAA Championships.  Evan Delong also stood out, taking the Outstanding Wrestler honors at the 2016 PSAC Championships while winning the 165-pound bracket.

 

In 2016 the Golden Eagles showed improvement in all facets during Ferraro’s second season, improving by six wins in dual match play and seeing the team’s first EWL individual champions in several years.  Brock Zacherl (141) and Michael Pavasko (174) claimed titles in their respective weight classes at the EWL Championships, the first time multiple Clarion wrestlers won at the event since 2012, and both qualified for the NCAA Championships.

 

Ferraro was named Clarion’s assistant coach on July 31, 2012 under Troy Letters and he continued in that role until being named interim coach in September of 2014. The Recruiting Coordinator since his arrival, he was a major part of the highly rated Golden Eagle recruiting class for 2013-14 which was rated 9th in NCAA Division I by AWN/Open Mat and 15th by Flo Wrestling.

 

Ferraro, the son of legendary Brookville Head Wrestling coach Lenny Ferraro, who was posthumously inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011, is a 1999 Brookville High graduate. He wrestled nearly three years for his father before his passing, and then finished his junior and then senior year under head coach Thad Turner. At Brookville Ferraro was a three-time district champion  and was part of the 1999 Brookville High School Dual Meet State Championship Team.

 

Ferraro went on to attend Lock Haven University, was part of the wrestling program for four seasons (2000 – 2003) and graduated in December of 2003 with a degree in Health and Physical Education. A volunteer coach at Central Mountain in the seasons of 2003 and 2004, Ferraro was the head coach at Brockway in the 2005 season, then took a position to teach at Brookville High School and became the assistant coach under Dave Klepfer since 2006. In the 2011-12 season Brookville advanced 13 wrestlers to regionals, 5 to the PIAA Championships and as a team placed fourth in the state dual meet championships.

 

Ferraro and wife Meghan reside in Brookville.  They have three children - sons Lenny and Vincent, and a daughter Lillian.