Ken Melchior"Ken's energy and enthusiasm for the sport of wrestling put him head and shoulders above a quality pool of candidates," said Costello. "He brings over 30 years of wrestling experience to our program. Ken's been successful at every level he's coached and participated and I look forward to him bringing that success to Delaware State. An outstanding student-athlete himself, Ken is the perfect person to lead our wrestling program. He's not only a coach, he's an educator. He's a person who will guide our student-athletes on the mat as well as in the classroom."
A retired educator, Melchior most recently served as an assistant coach at Haddonfield (N.J.) High School, helping lead the school to a 140-50 dual meet record since 1998. In addition, Haddonfield produced six district champions, eight regional qualifiers and three state qualifiers during his tenure.
In 11 years as head wrestling coach at West Deptford High School in New Jersey, Melchior compiled a record of 114-63 in dual meets. He led the team to two conference championships and a No. 11 ranking among all New Jersey schools in 1979. West Deptford produced numerous individual district, regional and state champions during Melchior's tenure.
Melchior earned four collegiate wrestling championships while at Lock Haven University, including the 1968 NCAA 115-pound title. In addition, he was a three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) champion. Melchior was an All-America First Team selection in 1968 and '69. He compiled an overall record of 98-6 during his collegiate career.
Melchior qualified for the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in 1968 and '72. He also competed in the 1971 and ‘72 world championships, finishing fifth and third, respectively, and was a three-time U.S. Military champion.
"There is such great potential in the Hornet wrestling program," Melchior said. "I'm familiar with Delaware State wrestling, as well as the many fine high school programs in the state and surrounding area. I'm looking forward to working with the DSU administration, staff and student-athletes to bring long-term success to wrestling program."
A native of Lindenhurst, N.Y., Melchior has been inducted into the NAIA, Lock Haven University, Lindenhurst High School and South Jersey Wrestling halls of fame.
Melchior earned a bachelor's in Education from Lock Haven in 1970.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now