Dernlan, who has strong ties with Penn State and Olympic wrestling, came to Binghamton from Clarion University.
In his first season in 2012-13, Dernlan produced four NCAA qualifiers and a runnerup finish at the CAA Championship. Under his tutelage, BU had two wrestlers ranked in the nation’s top-10 throughout the season. During the year, Dernlan orchestrated two key victories off the mat - first with an elite recruiting class that was tabbed 14th-best in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. Then in April, Binghamton earned membership into the prestigious EIWA, positioning itself for the future.
“This is monumental on a number of levels,” Dernlan said of the affiliation. “Academically, it speaks volumes about Binghamton as an institution and President Stenger’s vision moving forward that we are seen as ‘in line’ with some of the most elite private schools in the country. From a wrestling standpoint, to be viewed as adding value to one of the most powerful wrestling conferences in the country speaks to what the future holds as we progress as an emerging national power.”
Dernlan led the 2012 Clarion team to an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championship – that school’s highest national finish in 15 years. The Golden Eagles had four NCAA qualifiers and crowned two All-Americans – same as Binghamton – at the championship in St. Louis. In his first season at the helm, Dernlan’s squad finished the regular season with a 6-7 dual meet record against some of the top wrestling teams in the nation, placed third at the PSAC Championships, fourth at EWL’s and 11th at the prestigious Midlands Tournament. He was chosen as the Amateur Wrestling News national “Rookie Coach of the Year” for 2011-12.
“We are pleased and fortunate to hire someone with Matt’s integrity and experience,” Elliott said at the time. “He has a noteworthy pedigree of being part of a championship program at the highest level and has shown rapid success as a Division I head coach. Matt is committed to the academic achievement and citizenship of his student-athletes and I believe he is a perfect fit at Binghamton.”
Prior to taking the head coaching reigns at Clarion, Dernlan served seven years at Penn State, helping orchestrate the rise of the Nittany Lions to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2011 and 2012. As head assistant and director of recruiting from 2005-09, he produced three consecutive top-4 nationally-ranked recruiting classes (2005, 2006, 2007) and helped lead PSU to a third-place NCAA finish in 2008. Dernlan served as director of operations from 2009-11 under head coach Cael Sanderson and was part of the Nittany Lions’ staff that captured a 2011 Big Ten crown and then brought home the school’s first NCAA wrestling title since 1953.
At Penn State, Dernlan also was responsible for the academic success of the wrestling team and served as the team’s liaison with admissions, compliance and student-athlete services. Additionally, he was head coach of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, where he coached 10 full-time resident athletes in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Dernlan become an NCAA qualifier at Liberty University as a sophomore 126-pounder in 1993. After he red-shirted in 1994, Liberty dropped its wrestling program but Dernlan stayed at the school and earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management in 1996. He then received a master’s degree in sport administration from Bowling Green in 2002 and has been working toward a Ph.D. in higher education administration from University of Toledo.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at St. Paris Graham High School (Ohio) from 1997-99 and then was an assistant coach at Ohio Northern from 2001-04, where he also served as assistant director in the school’s host role for the 2003 NCAA Division III Championship.
Matt and his wife, Carie, have two daughters, Ava and Aubrey.
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