Zach Tanelli

Freestyle Coach, SERTC

Associate Head Coach, Virginia Tech

Millburn, New Jersey

In his first year in Blacksburg, Zach Tanelli will add a wealth of knowledge to the Southeast Regional Training Center.  Tanelli started his coaching career at Hofstra from 2009-2014. Tanelli's impact was immediate across the board for Hofstra, particularly with the lightweights. Zach would go on to coach four All-Americans and helped guide 12 individual conference champions for the Pride during his five-year stint in Hempstead. After his time at Hofstra, Tanelli spent two years as an assistant coach at Purdue University from 2014-2016 where he would help send a total of 11 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships.

In 2016, Columbia University named Zach the ninth head coach in program history.  At the helm for the Lions from 2016-2024, Tanelli made a monumental impact on the program, setting school records in Division I dual meet wins in a season, highest team placement at the EIWA Championships, individual NCAA Championships qualifiers in a season, and the school’s first All American since 2013 and only their sixth in program history.

Realizing the potential development opportunities of Columbia University and a Regional Training Center partnership, Tanelli played a major role in the New York City Regional Training Center forming in the spring of 2017. Despite only being around for 7 years, highlights of the NYC RTC include Mitch Finesilver’s Bronze Medal at the 2021 European Championships and Shelton Mack’s Gold Medal at the 2021 Pan-American Championships.

Before his coaching career, Tanelli excelled as a collegiate wrestler at the University of Wisconsin. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier and secured a spot on the podium placing fourth his senior year.