Penn State Altoona athletics announced on Thursday the hiring of Tyshawn White to be the head coach of its NCAA Division III men's and women's wrestling program.
White comes to Penn State Altoona from Division II Chadron State College, where he served as an assistant coach for an Eagles men's wrestling team that won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and made a D-II Super Region postseason appearance last season. He will now lead Penn State Altoona's resurrected wrestling program, which was announced last summer as an addition to the department's NCAA sport offerings after previously being discontinued in the 1980s.
White has deep Pennsylvania ties and a firsthand knowledge of the wrestling community in the region. A native of Harrisburg, he graduated from Central Dauphin High School and went on to wrestle collegiately at Lock Haven, Clarion, and Shippensburg Universities.
White is eager to bring his knowledge and passion of wrestling to Penn State Altoona as it reintroduces the men's program and establishes a women's program.
At Chadron State from August 2023 to April 2024, White was part of a coaching staff that led the Eagles to an RMAC championship this past season, and the team went on to compete in the NCAA Division II Super Region 6 Championships. White was responsible for lightweights from 125 to 149 pounds while also assisting in management, development, and success, with an emphasis on athlete education, safety, and opportunity.
Prior to his time at Chadron State, White served as an assistant coach at Division III Messiah University from July 2021 to January 2022. There, he assisted in recruiting, training, and evolution of the Messiah wrestling team.
White also had a highly successful wrestling career as a collegiate student-athlete. From 2016-18, he wrestled at Lock Haven, including being part of an Eastern Wrestling League champion team with the Bald Eagles, before moving on to Clarion for the 2018-19 season. After a year off from wrestling, he competed at Glenville State University during a COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.
From there, White moved on to Shippensburg, where he experienced his most successful season on the mat. He earned NCAA Division II All-American honors in the 2021-22 season, thanks to a third-place finish at 125 pounds at the Division II National Championships.
In his collegiate career overall, White was also a two-time first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference selection at 125 pounds, once with Shippensburg and once with Clarion.
Before his collegiate career, White was an accomplished four-year high school wrestler, spending one year at Bishop McDevitt High School before competing his next three seasons at Central Dauphin under the tutelage of coach Jeff Sweigard. White was a four-time PIAA State Championships place-winner and ranked among the top 20 wrestlers overall in Pennsylvania upon his high school graduation.
White obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Lock Haven, and he is working toward completing a Master of Arts degree in Sports Management from Chadron State.
Penn State Altoona's men's and women's wrestling teams will begin NCAA intercollegiate competition in 2024-25. The teams' schedules will be announced this summer.