Campbell University

Scotti Sentes heads into his fourth season as head wrestling coach at Campbell University after a record setting first two years.

In the 2022-23 season, the Camels finished with a 16-9 overall record and finished runner-up at the Southern Conference Wrestling Championships. Five different Camels (Taye Ghadiali, Shannon Hanna, Caleb Hopkins, Levi Hopkins, Domenic Zaccone) advanced to the NCAA Championships. It marked the fifth consecutive season the program has sent at least five representatives to the NCAA Championships.

Sentes led the team to a final ranking of No. 14 in the NWCA Scholar All-America team rankings. The Camels had a record six Scholar All-Americans. Six Camels were also named All-SoCon, with Ghadiali, Hanna, C. Hopkins and L. Hopkins being named to the team, while Dom Baker and Conor Maslanek were named to the league's all-freshman team. 

Under Sentes, the Camels earned four conference wrestler of the week awards and one wrestler of the month nod. 
 
Sentes, who took over as head coach of the CU program in March 2020 after spending four seasons in Buies Creek, including 2019-20 as associate head coach, led the Camels to another Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships in 2021, with eight CU wrestlers earning SoCon finals appearances.
 
Ranked as high as No. 22 in the NCWA team poll and No. 19 by InterMat, Campbell finished the regular season at 8-1 overall, with a perfect 7-0 SoCon mark, going unbeaten in conference duals for the second straight season.
 
Individually, four Camels were named All-SoCon, including Benjamin Barton at 157 pounds, Murphy at 174, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Chris Kober at 197, while four more earned All-Freshman Team honors.
 
The 2021 Amateur Wrestling News national Rookie Head Coach of the Year and SoCon Coach of the Year took a school record seven Camels to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., where 174 pounder Austin Murphy, one of four first time qualifiers from Campbell, earned a top-12 finish.
 
Additionally, Campbell was honored at No. 15 in the 2020-21 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, while Josh Heil and Caleb Hopkins were both named Scholar All-Americans. With a 3.3589 team GPA, the Camels earned a top-30 ranking in the NWCA standings for the sixth time in program history and the fourth time in five years.
 
In 2021-23, Sentes led Campbell to its fourth straight SoCon tournament championship, with all 10 Camels in the 2022 field wrestling for medals, and nine earning spots on the podium, including  individual championships from Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight.
 
The Camels have sent at least six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last four seasons.
 
Campbell also finished fifth in the 2021-22 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, an all-time high for the program, and posted two Scholar All-Americans, including 2022-23 returner Caleb Hopkins.
 
Since arriving at Campbell, Sentes has now helped the Camels to five SoCon tournament championships, as well as three dual titles over the last five seasons, the program’s first NCAA Division I championships.
 
The Ft. Myers, Fla. native has coached 32 total NCAA qualifiers, 21 All-SoCon performers and 18 conference champions over the last six seasons in Buies Creek, in addition to the 2020 SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Noah Gonser, and the program’s first All-American in 2017, Nathan Kraisser. Sentes has also coached two SoCon Freshman of the Year honorees, with Austin Kraisser in 2017 and Korbin Meink in 2018.
 
In 2019-20, the Camels won their second straight SoCon tournament and dual titles behind six NCAA qualifiers. Five Camels earned SoCon championships, another school record, while five were named All-SoCon. Going 11-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in SoCon competition, Campbell was ranked as high as No. 12 (InterMat) in the national rankings.
 
Sentes was elevated to associate head coach following the 2018-19 season that saw the Camels sweep the SoCon’s tournament and regular season championships for the first time in program history, going 5-1 in the league and 7-1 overall. CU also sent six to the NCAA Championships, earning its first ever top-25 national ranking. The Camels also fashioned a 10th place finish at the prestigious Midlands Championships, an all-time best for the program.
 
Additionally, Campbell took NWCA Division I Academic Team honors for the third-straight year in 2019. The Camels finished 13th nationally in the standings with an outstanding 3.28 team GPA, posting a top-25 academic finish for the fifth time in program history. Campbell took ninth in 2017-18 after finishing No. 21 in 2016-17.
 
In 2017-18, CU sent two more qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, also earning four spots on the All-SoCon team. Campbell finished third at the SoCon Championships, going 8-8 overall and 5-2 in the regular season.
 
In his first season at Campbell, Sentes helped guide the Camels to their first conference championship, with seven medalists and a pair of individual champions at the 2017 SoCon tournament. A then-school record five Camels traveled to the NCAA Championships, including All-American Nathan Kraisser.
 
Sentes came to Campbell after spending three years as the head assistant coach at Cal Poly under Coach Brendan Buckley. He helped push the team to raise its GPA from a 2.39 in 2012 to a 2.77 cumulative average in 2015-16 as well as sending three grapplers to the NCAA Championships.
 
Sentes initiated Cal Poly's first outdoor wrestling match in 2013, which started a nationwide trend for programs to hold their own outdoor wrestling matches. He bolstered the Mustangs’ social media footprint, increasing the program’s likes by 330 percent on Facebook, doubling the followers on Twitter and gained nearly 1,750 followers on Instagram after only a year after the page’s establishment.
 
A two-time All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier as a wrestler at Central Michigan, Sentes placed fourth in the NCAA finals at 133 pounds as a junior in 2011 and seventh at 125 as a freshman in 2009.
 
He won Mid-American conference titles in 2009 and 2011 while claiming third in 2010 and 2013. Sentes amassed a 108-33 career record at Central Michigan, going 55-12 in duals and 17-1 against MAC competition.
 
While wrestling at Central Michigan, Sentes was active in helping as a clinician for wrestling clinics and camps. He founded and was the head coach of Team Anaconda Blood and was a coach for National Team Florida, which prepared wrestlers for national competition during the high school offseason. He was also an instructor for the Riverdale Wrestling Club while still wrestling in high school.
 
Sentes was a four-time Florida state high school champion while attending Riverdale High School, compiling a 213-3 career prep record and winning his last 140 matches. He also finished runner-up in the state finals at 103 pounds while competing with the varsity as an eight-grader in 2004. He was 51-0 with 36 falls as a senior. Sentes also won a senior nationals title in 2008.
 
Sentes joined the Cal Poly coaching ranks after graduating from Central Michigan in 2013, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English.