Craig Ketelsen retires as St. Paul’s wrestling coach, remains as athletic director

SPS Press Release

After 30 years, Craig Ketelsen will retire as head wrestling coach for St. Paul’s School.

Coach Ketelsen will remain as Athletic Director and Jr. High Coach. He amassed 350 wins, 20 Parish titles, 10 district titles and two team state championships. Coach Ketelsen also coached 24 individual state champions during his career.

Coach Ketelsen will focus more time on his work as Athletic Director and remain the wrestling representative for the LHSCA.

St. Paul’s Coach Matt Pinero will take over as Head Varsity/JV/9th grade wrestling coach. Matt is a 2008 graduate from Rummel High School and former team captain. He coached at Rummel from 2008 until 2014. He has been An Asst. Coach at St. Paul’s since 2014.

Pinero currently serves as the Louisiana USA Wrestling membership director and director of events, as well as a coach for Team Lousiana – USA Wrestling. He has been the coach for several All-Americans as a member of the Team Louisana staff. Matt has a degree from UNO and currently teaches English at St. Paul’s.

Also, Keren Davis will be retiring from the varsity staff. The amount of work and dedication this coach put in to giving every kid on our team the best of everything – clothing, team food, etc… is immeasurable. Her organizational skills, marketing skills, communication skills and fund-raising skills in addition to her experience as a two-time National Champion in a combat sport have been essential for our team to be able to focus and compete. She handled literally everything off the mat for the coaches for the last 15 years. St. Paul’s thanks her for her dedication and service.

From Craig Ketelsen:
“Matt has done a great job as an assistant and the time is right for him to take over leadership of the entire program. I am looking forward to helping him continue and improve on our success. “

From Matt Pinero:
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the St. Paul’s Wrestling team. Over the last 30 years Coach Craig Ketelsen has molded St. Paul’s into one of the premiere programs in the state. I am honored that he and the administration have entrusted me with the future of the program”