Troy Letters, 29, a former PIAA & NCAA Division I Champion who spent the last three years at Penn State as an assistant coach, was named Clarion University's first assistant wrestling coach today by Athletic Director Dave Katis.
 
            Letters joins new Clarion Head Wrestling coach Matt Dernlan to form the new Golden Eagles wrestling staff. Dernlan, who also came to Clarion from Penn State, was named head coach on July 25 and replaced former head coach Teague Moore who took the top position at American University.
 
            “I am very happy to announce the hiring of Troy Letters as our assistant wrestling coach at Clarion,” said Katis. “We are impressed with Troy as a person and a coach and believe he brings a strong wrestling expertise to the program. We feel very fortunate to have him on our staff and feel it shows Clarion's commitment to a strong, competitive NCAA Division I Wrestling program.”
 
            Letters comes to Clarion from Penn State, where he spent the last three years helping develop Nittany Lion  wrestlers. In 2008-09 he was the Director of Wrestling Operations, and the last two years as an assistant coach. Penn State won the NCAA Division I National Championship in 2011 with Cael Sanderson as head coach.
 
            “I am thrilled to have Troy Letters as my assistant coach,” said Clarion mentor Matt Dernlan. “Troy knows what it takes to be the best in the country because he has been there personally. He also knows what it takes to develop and lead others and that's a trait that will serve him well as we move the Clarion program forward. We share a common belief of what clarion wrestling can be again, and have a unified vision on what it will take to lead Clarion back to national prominence. That's our goal,” added Dernlan.
 
           
            A native of Pittsburgh and a 2001 graduate of Shaler High School, Letters wrestled under coach Rick Laferriere and compiled a 145-5 record at Shaler and won PIAA State titles as a junior in 2000 (152-pounds) and a senior in 2001 (160-pounds). He also placed second at PIAA's as a sophomore in 1999 (145-pounds). He had over 100 falls in his high school career and as a senior won the Wade Schalles Pinner Award (former Golden Eagle standout) for most falls in a single season.
 
            Letters went on to wrestle at Lehigh under coach Greg Strobel and amassed a career record of 115-9 (31 falls) from 2003-2006. Troy was an NCAA runner-up as a freshman in 2003 at 165-pounds with a season record of 34-2, then won the NCAA D-I title at 165 in 2004 with a record of 36-1. He placed third at nationals in 2005 at 165-pounds with a record of 27-1 and qualified for nationals his senior year, but an injury kept him out the second half of the year and hampered him at nationals. Troy was a 3-time EIWA Champion and had a dual meet career record of 65-2.
 
            After graduating from Lehigh with a degree in Political Science, he coached at Princeton in 2006-07 and then ran his own wrestling club for a year before joining the Penn State staff.
 
            “I am happy to be here at Clarion University and thankful for the opportunity to join with Matt (Dernlan) to help build Clarion's program back to national prominence,” said Letters. “I have great memories of Clarion – especially coming to wrestling camp here as a youth wrestler, and remember the tradition that Clarion enjoyed then. We used to come to matches and root for Clarion. Hopefully I can take what I've learned as a wrestler and as a coach at Penn State and apply that knowledge to help our wrestlers become their absolute best. Wrestling is a blue collar sport and Clarion is a blue collar community. I know I am going to love being part of that community and look forward to creating something special with Coach Dernlan that our community can come out and support.”
 
            Letters and wife Concepcion have a daughter Blythe and are expecting their second child in the next two weeks. The family is moving to Clarion. Troy is the son of Jeff and Kathy Letters.
 
            CLARION WRESTLING NOTES: Clarion head coach Matt Dernlan, who was the head coach at the Nittany Lion (2009-10; 2010-11), is currently in Istanbul, Turkey coaching five wrestlers at the World Freestyle Championships - September 16-18. Three wrestlers representing the USA include Cael Sanderson, Teyon Ware and Jake Varner, while two representing Puerto Rice include Franklin Gomez and Jaime Espinal. Dernlan will attend the World Championships and coach those five wrestlers…. Dernlan is only the  sixth head coach at NCAA Division I Clarion since 1960. Frank Lignelli re-started the wrestling program in the Fall of 1959 and coached through 1966. Bob Bubb elevated the program to elite NCAA Division I status as head coach from 1967- 92, while Jack Davis mentored from 1993-97, Ken Nellis from 1998-2006 and Moore from 2007 – 2011.
The Golden Eagles are 510-316-13 over that time… The program was started in the 1959-60 season under head coach Frank Lignelli ... Lignelli was the coach from 1960-66 with a record of 61-12... He passed the torch to Bob Bubb, who from 1966-92, put Clarion wrestling on the national stage... Bubb had a career record of 322-121-4 ... Bubb led Clarion to a 4^th place team finish at D-I nationals in 1973, sixth in 1972 and 87 and eighth in 1992, his final season... Bubb coached 7 D-I champions, 3 college division champs, 27 All-Americans, 29 EWL winners and 68 PSAC champs ... Bubb will be remembered for two special athletes, namely Wade Schalles and Kurt Angle... Both were named to the NCAA/NWCA 75^th Anniversary Team in March of 2005... Schalles had an amazing career record of 153-5-1, won 2 NCAA titles and posted an NCAA record 106 pins ... Angle also was a 2-time NCAA D-I Champion, posted a record of 116-10-2 and also won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996 ... On June 4, 2005, Bubb was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma .... Jack Davis was Clarion's head coach from 1993-97 with a record of 43-34-5, Nellis (47-89-3; 1998-2006), and Moore (37-60-1)... Clarion has 8 D-I National Champions, 43 All-Americans, 52 EWL winners and 111 PSAC Champions... That also includes 14 PSAC and 3 EWL team titles…. In 2011 Clarion won the PSAC team title, placed fourth at EWL's and qualified two wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Nationals in 157-lb James Fleming (So. West Mifflin) and 165-lb Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr. Tashkent, Uzbekistan).