Gennaro Bonaventura enters his third season as the head wrestling coach at Fairmont State. Bonaventura was announced as the head coach for the wrestling program in July of 2022.
For the 2023-24 campaign, Fairmont State posted an 11-14 record and placed third at the MEC Championship for the second-straight season. Brandan Myers (125 lbs), Nate Pelesky (133 lbs), Ryan Martin (141 lbs) and Dwayne Johnson (197 lbs) earned Honorable Mention All-MEC accolades after winning third in their respective weight classes. Colton Stoneking continued a stretch of a Falcon qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Championships. Additionally, Fairmont State had five named NWCA Academic All-Americans in Tristan Ice, Kolton Parsons, Trace Ragland, Jasup Spragg and Colton Stoneking.
In his first season with Falcons, Bonaventura led the team to a 13-13 record while going 4-2 in conference matches. At the MEC Championships, Fairmont State finished third as a team, which was the best in program history, and as the team went into NCAA Regional contests, Austin Gibson took home third-place and qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships. Four Fairmont State wrestlers, Nate Pelesky (133 lbs), Caleb Everhart (141 lbs), Colton Stoneking (149 lbs) and Kolton Parsons (157 lbs) brought home Honorable Mention All-MEC accolades after winning third place in their respective divisions.
Bonaventura comes to Fairmont State from Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania where he was the Head Assistant Wrestling coach, Head Women's Lacrosse coach and Head Equipment Manager since 2017.
At Waynesburg, Bonaventura wrestled and coached under Hall of Fame wrestling coach Ron Headlee. Bonaventura was the recruiting coordinator and heavyweight coach. He recruited and developed PAC Conference Champions, NCAA Regional Champions and NCAA All-Americans Jake Evans and Rocky McGeary. He helped guide Jake Evans to an NCAA National Championship in 2018. Bonaventura also assisted in four NCAA All-American honors, nine NCAA National qualifiers, three regional champions, and 20 President's Athletic Conference champions. Bonaventura also assisted and led the Waynesburg to three consecutive PAC team titles from 2017 to 2019. The first three peat in school history. He also led them to 2 top 5 NCAA Regional Finishes and 2 Top 25 NCAA Tournament Finishes.
Bonaventura transitioned right into coaching after his playing career as a graduate assistant for Women's Lacrosse and Wrestling at Waynesburg University. He helped with all facets of the program in recruiting, administrative work, and running practices. He then transitioned into a Full-Time role in athletics as the Head Women's Lacrosse Coach, Head Assistant Wrestling Coach and Head Equipment Manager at Waynesburg University. Bonaventura graduated with his degree in Sport Management in 2015 and he completed a Master of Education Degree in Athletic Administration and Coaching in the spring of 2017 at Waynesburg University.
In his High School Career Bonaventura was a three sport athlete (Football, Wrestling and Lacrosse) and wrestled for one of the premier programs in New York State, Hauppauge High School. His senior year he won the 189 League V Championship and finished with a 35-5 overall record. In his collegiate career, Bonaventura saw success as a two-sport student-athlete in wrestling and football. He recorded 20 wins on the mat in the 197 weight class and was part of the conference championship wrestling team in 2011, 2013, and 2014. On the gridiron, Bonaventura was part of the PAC Conference championship team and ECAC Southwest Bowl Championship team in 2012. In total at Waynesburg University Bonaventura was a part of 7Â PAC Conference Championships (6 PAC Championships Wrestling and 1 with Football) and 1 ECAC Bowl win as a student athlete/coach.
Bonaventura was a wrestling camp counselor in the summer months of 2013 and 2014 for the Oklahoma State University wrestling camp at Waynesburg Central High School and also a Camp Coordinator at the Naval Academy Wrestling Camps from 2015 to present. He is the co-founder of the podcast, D3 Nation, which is built to promote NCAA Division III wrestling.
Bonaventura is married to his wife Heather, a Waynesburg alumni, and they reside in Morgantown, West Virginia. They are the proud parents of their son Colt and dog Bella.
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| Gennaro Bonaventura Record 2022-Present |
| Year |
Overall Record |
Conference Record |
Notes |
| 2022-23 |
13-13 |
4-2 |
Third Place finish at MEC Championships, highest in Program History |
| 2023-24 |
11-14 |
1-3 |
|
| Total |
24-27 (.471) |
5-5 (.500) |
|
