A Family Way of Life: DellaPenta’s Driving Eden Wrestling Resurgence

Trevor DellaPenta // cover photo courtesy of Jeff Pataky

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It isn’t uncommon in high school wrestling to see the same last name of multiple family members appear in box scores for a given team. Usually, a set of brothers and/or cousins (and now, sisters and sets of sisters too) all within 5-6 birth years of one another might appear on the same wrestling team’s roster, perhaps three, maybe even four at a time.

More often than not, this phenomenon greatly impacts small school programs more than large school programs.

The current WNY #3 ranked small school Eden Raiders varsity wrestling program features seven such wrestlers with the same last name and one all too familiar in western New York wrestling circuits over the last decade: DellaPenta.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a family as committed to the sport as Matt and Joe and the DellaPenta crew,” said first year Eden head coach Rick Weber. “What they’ve done for our town, recruiting as many youth wrestlers as they can, and opening it up to girls. As far as the kids go, these guys are always looking for as many opportunities to get on the mat as they can, in season and off season. They’ll travel wherever. And it shows…it pays off."

Eden coaches Rick Weber (l) and Tom Page (r) // Pataky

Three sons and one daughter to Matt and Jenny DellaPenta and three sons to Joe and Jennifer DellaPenta, all of Eden, represent seven of the ten cousins between the two families who are all wrestling for the Raiders this season.

The Matt & Jenny family includes Trevor (senior), Mason (junior), Tyler (freshman), and Emma (8th grade) all wrestling varsity with up and coming 6th grader Maximus in the Eden Wrestling Club.

Trevor // Pataky

The Joe & Jennifer family includes Bryce (senior), Troy (junior), and Drew (freshman) on the varsity team with Graham (8th) coming up next. Brooke (6th) is the youngest of the bunch.

Trevor is a defending Section VI Division II champion and NYS 4th place winner. Mason and Bryce return this season with state tournament experience as 2025 sectional finalists. Mason took 3rd in NYS last winter.

Mason // Pataky

In total, Trevor and Mason each have two state tournament top-8 place finishes on their resumes. Bryce was the first of them to reach the state tournament by winning the Section VI Division II 110-pound title in 2022. The trio has accounted for eight appearances at the federation championships in Albany since 2022.

Bryce earned a third trip to the state tournament by winning the Section VI Division II 152-pound 'true second place' match at the 2025 state qualifier - embraced by Coach Weber // Pataky

“They have a strong family nucleus, they live right next door to each other…it’s just special,” said former Raiders head coach Tom Page about the DellaPenta’s. Page led Eden wrestling from 2006 to the end of the 2024-2025 season and still remains involved as a supporter and contributor.

“They’re there for each other, they have a very strong faith, and they believe in one another wholeheartedly. With that foundation, I don’t think they can go wrong in whatever they do. They chose wrestling to be their spotlight, but it starts with the support at home.”

Mason // Pataky

The six varsity boys appeared in the lineup together for the first time this season in wins over #4 (D1) Orchard Park, #5 Pioneer, and #8 Lackawanna at the St. Francis Southtowns Duals in the first week of the season, Dec. 5-6. All six won their weights for the first time in the lineup together in the Raiders’ ECIC III win over Tonawanda on Dec. 10.

Emma is one of three Eden student-athletes competing in girls’ varsity freestyle for the first time this winter. She’s currently 11-1 this season with nine wins by technical superiority and two individual tournament titles on her resume.

“It’s a family way of life,” continued Coach Page, who explained that with grandparents and cousins all living nearby (five homes in a row to be exact) spread out over 150 acres, the family essentially owns the side of hill they all live on.

Bryce // Pataky

Page continued “They literally do everything together. Birthday parties, 4th of July, Christmas dinner…it’s beautiful, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

Both Matt and Joe wrestled at Eden and graduated with the classes of 1993 and 1997, respectively.

Matt and Joe began as assistant coaches with Eden Wrestling Club fifteen years ago, before any of the DellaPenta kids were old enough to wrestle yet, but first nephews, the sons of Todd and Nicole (DellaPenta) Overhoff, were. Cole (Class of 2015) was a sectional qualifier while Sawyer (Class of 2017) was a two-time NYS tournament qualifier.

At about five years old, Trevor and Bryce started going to youth practices. In 2014, Trevor, Mason, Bryce, and Troy all started competing with EWC.

L to R: Eden coaches Page, Joe DellaPenta, Matt DellaPenta, and Weber // Pataky

The Club has seen a steady and consistent rise in participation due in very large part to the DellaPenta kids and many classmates willing to give wrestling a try.

“We are a sport that is bred on the 'more is better’ philosophy,” said Matt. “It’s not about me. It’s about the kids. Exposing them to a positive culture that is centrally focused on hard work and good sportsmanship is such a pillar to what we’re doing, as much as technique.”

Trevor // Pataky

While helping coach the varsity Raiders, Matt still coaches the club kids often turning wrestling into a seven day a week job throughout the harsh winter months.

“He’s burning the candle at both ends,” said Coach Page. “It’s quite a selfless act. He’s definitely not there for himself. He’s there to make it the best he can for his kids and for everyone in Eden. There’s no secret to success. You surround yourself with good people, and good things will happen.”

Trevor // Pataky

Speaking from experience, Coach Page noted how the number of DellaPenta’s currently wrestling for Eden might reflect the criticality of student-athletes from the same families participating in wrestling at the same time for the survival of the sport at the interscholastic level.

“To get a team out at a small school is always a challenge,” said Page. “When you have your brothers and your cousins involved in the program, it’s a necessity.”

In the 2022-2023 season, participation for varsity and JV wrestling at Eden was not as strong as in previous years. The Hamburg wrestling staff under former head coach Ken Schmitz and retired athletic director Pat Cauley took on the five Raiders who did sign up (Trevor, Mason, Bryce, Ruger Pastwik, and Derek Zajac) as a combined Hamburg/Eden team competing in ECIC II as a Division I large school for the season. Coaches Page and Weber worked alongside Schmitz and staff from November right through the state tournament in February.

The Eden program ‘rehab’ merger was intended for, and did, last only one single season.

“The Eden athletic director saw how much we really wanted our own team, and that it didn’t really sit well with us,” said Page reflecting on 2022-2023 season. “As much as we did and still do get along with Hamburg, it still wasn’t our own way. We were and still are very grateful for that opportunity to have been able to compete with Hamburg that season.”

Bryce // Pataky

With three DellaPenta’s on that team and the reality of more prospects on the way, Coach Page said “it had a lot to do with us gaining our independence back. Our school knew more of them were coming. We combined because we didn’t want to rob the kids of not having a season.”

In their first season back as just Eden, the 2023-2024 Raiders wrestled a dual schedule limited to their ECIC III commitments and went 4-2 in the league. The 2024-2025 Raiders made a significant leap again posting a 6-1 league record and 11-7 overall finishing second in the division only to Pioneer and finishing 6th in the final WNY Athletics boys’ dual team power ranking amongst WNY high school teams. The 2024-2025 Eden team qualified for the Section VI Dual Meet Championships for the first time in program history in the 8th edition of the event as well.

Mason // Pataky

Last year’s team featured five DellaPenta’s, all of whom finished the season with winning records as well while accounting for 154 total individual bouts won.

“These kids are all having a successful season and good careers so far,” said Coach Weber. “I love being part of it. I still remember when Bryce and Trevor were little kids in their first youth practices. They were always competitors on the mat and they’ve wrestled with class. Whenever they have taken a loss, they wanted to learn what they could do better. They’re good kids in the classroom and very respectable out in the community, and all around exactly what you’d want on a wrestling team. Their parents have really made wrestling special and enjoyable for the them.”

Trevor // Pataky