Now Jon Trenge can add "head coach" to his already impressive resume.
Jon Trenge
The 38-year-old Trenge has been named head wrestling coach at Parkland High School, the place where he won two PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association) state titles and compiled a 144-16 record two decades ago.
Trenge replaces fellow Parkland state champion Mike Ottinger, who took a full-time teaching position in the Upper Perkiomen School District.
In being able to land Trenge for the head coaching position, Parkland athletic director Bill Dreisbach told the Allentown Morning Call, "It's unbelievable. He can interview anywhere in the country and basically get hired."
"He is Parkland wrestling," Dreisbach continued. "And, besides wrestling, he is a really good person, a great teacher. Kids love him. It's a win-win for Parkland."
"I wouldn't have wanted to coach anywhere else," said Trenge, who, in addition to having served as an assistant coach at Parkland, has been an earth science and astronomy teacher at the high school for over a decade. Just last year, Trenge earned a superintendent teaching award.
Prior to being offered the head coaching position at his high school alma mater, Trenge and his fiancée Brooke Zumas started the Allentown Beat the Streets wrestling program, working with inner-city youths. She'll continue that venture while Trenge will focus on his students and wrestlers at Parkland.
That experience introducing boys and girls to the sport has helped the former Lehigh mat star known for his on-the-mat intensity -- and protective eye goggles (he wrestled with detached retinas) -- shift his focus as a coach.
"It's all about helping kids," according to Trenge. "My strengths are as a technician. I can motivate kids very well."
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