Williams College - Wrestling

	Dan DiCenzo
	Head Coach of Wrestling ddicenzo@williams.edu 413-597-3573

Dan DiCenzo enters his 6th year coaching for the Ephs and his 3rd as the head coach. In his first two seasons as head coach the Ephs were 30-13-1 including a school best 19-4-1 season last year.

The Ephs went on to win the 2009 New England Wrestling Association Championship and finish 10th place at the Division III NCAA Championships (highest finish in school history). DiCenzo has coached 32 All Conference wrestlers in 5 seasons including 8 conference finalists the last two years. DiCenzo was awarded NEWA Coach of the year honors after the 2008-2009 season. He also received the NWCA Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award for Division III following the 2007-2008 season (given to one Division III coach a year).

The Ephs have also been doing a great job academically the past 5 seasons. Williams has had the highest Team GPA of any NEWA wrestling team 4 of the last 5 years. The team also won the National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar Wrestling team National Championship the past two years for having the highest team GPA of all Division III wrestling programs.

During the 2007-2008 season the Ephs set a program record with 4 Scholar All-Americans and this past season broke the program record again with 5 Scholar All-Americans in 2008-2009.

DiCenzo has been the President of the NEWA conference for the past 2 years after previously serving as the Vice-President for two years. He has served on the National seeding committee for the Division III NCAA Wrestling Championships for the past 6 years. DiCenzo was named the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2005-2006 season.

DiCenzo is a 2001 graduate of Williams. As a senior he was an All-NESCAC football player and All-New England wrestler and captained both of the teams. He also won the prestigious Purple Key Award given to the male athlete of the year at Williams. DiCenzo majored in history at Williams and then went on to do his graduate work in History at Trinity College.

2004-2005 – 5th in NEWA, 12th at NCAA’s
2005-2006 – 5th in NEWA, 35th at NCAA’s
2006-2007 – 5th in NEWA, 30th at NCAA’s
2007-2008 – 3rd in NEWA, 47th at NCAA’s
2008-2009 – 1st in NEWA, 10th at NCAA’s

	Ben Hektoen
	Assistant Coach of Wrestling 413-597-3573

Ben Hektoen, a 2009 graduate of Simpson College, is beginning his coaching career as an assistant to Eph head wrstling coach Dan DiCenzo.

"I have known Ben for his four years while at Simpson and was always very impressed with him as a wrestler, leader, and person,” noted Eph head coach Dan DiCenzo. “Ben had a great wrestling career at Simpson and he comes from the IIAC where the toughest wrestling in the country takes place. The IIAC had five teams place in the top 11 in at the NCAA Division III Championships in 2009, including Wartburg College the two-time NCAA champions. Ben’s experience at Simpson, wrestling a great schedule and competing at a high level, will be a tremendous help to our student-athletes."

Williams and Simpson College have forged a great relationship over the past 10 years. Each year the two schools meet either in Massachusetts or Iowa. This relationship started and continues today with the help of Luther Hill Williams Class of 1945. Many of Hill’s family members attended Simpson.

"I felt strongly about getting Ben out here to Williams to help coach,” stated DiCenzo. “I have a great relationship with Ben's head coach Clint Manny and have tremendous respect for Clint and his program. With the close relationship between the two schools I had the opportunity to know Ben much better than I would any other candidate looking to get into coaching."

While at Simpson, Ben was vice president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, involved in the Champs Mentor Program, and graduated with a BA in criminal justice and a minor in history. His senior year Hektoen was awarded the Simpson College Wrestling MVP award.