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Entering 14th season as head coach in 2024-25
Alma Mater: The College of New Jersey ’07
Hometown: Ocean City, NJ
Education: BS, Health & Exercise Science
• 4-time Regional Coach of the Year (2020, 2022, 2023, 2025)
• 2020 NWCA Mideast Regional Coach of the Year
• 2015 South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame
• 2014 Named Assistant Director of Athletics
• 2013 TCNJ "Roy Van Ness" Coach of the Year
• 2012 NWCA “Rookie Coach of the Year”
Coached:
• 2 NCAA Champions and the Most Dominant Wrestler in DIII (2011-2012)
• 33 Division III All-Americans
• 42 NWCA Scholar All-Americans
• 4 Top-10 Team Finishes at NCAA Division III Championships
• 9 Top-20 Team Finishes at NCAA Division III Championships
• 5-time Regional Champions (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Galante enters his 14th season at the helm of TCNJ's program in 2024-25. Galante has produced a returning All-American in each of the last 11 seasons and has led the Lions to four consecutive regional titles as well as four top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a 9th-place showing in 2023-24.
Galante's 2023-24 squad completed a four-peat at the Mideast Regional meet.
Nick Sacco (165) and
Mike Conklin (149) earned themselves individual championships while
Peter Wersinger (285) and
Matthew Griffin (125) finished second and third in their respective weight classes. Sacco went on to become the NCAA invididual champion at 165 pounds, while Conklin (7th) and Wersinger (8th) each placed to become All-Americans and help TCNJ finish inside the top-10 for the first time since 2019.
Galante led the Lions to their second NCAA Mideast Regional championship in as many seasons in 2022. TCNJ enjoyed a litany of never-before-seen accomplishments in running away with back-to-back regional crowns for the first time in school history as the Lions racked up 163.5 team points, well clear of Ithaca's second-place tally of 135.5.
Domenic Difrancescantonio (141),
Quinn Haddad (197), and
Thomas Marretta (285) all captured individual titles and were joined by runners-up
Mike Conklin (149),
Matt Sacco (157), and
Daniel Surich (184) as NCAA qualifiers, giving TCNJ its largest national haul since sending seven to the championships in 2005. For his efforts, Galante was named Coach of the Year and
Maaziah Bethea earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors for the Lions, for whom the historic accomplishments included:
- First back-to-back regional crowns since the NCAA moved to a regional format in 2013
- First time the program placed all 10 wrestlers at regionals
- First time with six regional finalists
- First time with three regional champions
After the season, Galante saw a program-record nine wrestlers named Scholar All-Americans by the NWCA.
Prior to the 2020 NCAA Mideast Regional, Galante was named Mideast Region Coach of the Year by the NWCA. He coached his second national champion in the 2018-19 season as Ryan Budzek went 5-0 at the NCAA National Championships. That year, Galante earned his 100th career victory with a win over RIT and was named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year.
In 2016-17, the team defeated eighth-ranked Concordia College (Minn.) at the NWCA national duals for the 700th victory in program history. In 2015-16, Galante lead the Lions to an 18-3 overall record and a second-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships. TCNJ had four wrestlers qualify for the NCAA national tournament with Doug Hamann earning All-American honors.
In the 2014-15 season, he guided the Lions to 17th place at NCAA Division III Championships, where TCNJ produced two All-Americans. The Lions' regular season was highlighted by 12 victories and a season-long team ranking.
The 2007 graduate of the college previously served as a health and physical education teacher at Alexandria Middle School for three years.
As a wrestler at TCNJ, Galante was a three-year letter winner and claimed All-American honors in 2005 and 2007. He finished fourth at the 2005 NCAA Championships and was a national runner-up his senior season in 2007. Galante won the 157-pound weight class at the Metropolitan Conference Championships in each of his three seasons and was a three-time national qualifier. He finished his standout career with a record of 84-15 and served as a team captain his final two seasons. His success wasn’t limited to the mat as he was named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar Team in 2007.
In high school, Galante was a 2002 NJ State Finalist at 145 pounds, two-time Region 8 Finalist, three-time District 32 Champion, and a member of Team New Jersey competing in Freestyle. In 2015, he was inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame.
|
Overall |
|
|
|
| Year |
Wins |
Losses |
Ties |
NCAA Finish |
| 2011-12 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
6th |
| 2012-13 |
12 |
7 |
0 |
7th |
| 2013-14 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
T-14th |
| 2014-15 |
12 |
9 |
0 |
17th |
| 2015-16 |
18 |
3 |
0 |
17th |
| 2016-17 |
12 |
13 |
0 |
35th |
| 2017-18 |
15 |
5 |
0 |
T-42nd |
| 2018-19 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
8th |
| 2019-20 |
16 |
2 |
0 |
NCAA Championships Canceled |
| 2020-21 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
NCAA Championships Canceled |
| 2021-22 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
T-29th |
| 2022-23 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
16th |
| 2023-24 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
9th |
| 2024-25 |
14 |
5 |
0 |
11th |
| Totals |
172 |
75 |
0 |
|
