PRTC Wrestling

Brandon Slay Moving On from Executive Director of the PRTC

2025-04-22

After more than eight years of transformative leadership, Olympic Gold Medalist Brandon Slay will step down as Executive Director and Head Coach of the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC). Slay and his family will relocate to Springdale, Arkansas this July, where he will take on a dual role as Executive Director of SportsLife Wrestling, a Christian-based leadership development organization, and Head Coach of the G1 Training Center, a new training facility focused on the development of youth, elite high school, and senior level wrestlers. Slay will immediately move on to the PRTC Board of Directors, continuing his service to the organization.

Mitcheff and Bethea Results at the Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier

2016-04-04

Danny Mitcheff finished in 2nd place at the Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier this past weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa at the UNI Dome. Mitcheff had a tremendous tournament racking up three consecutive tech falls on his road to the finals. Mitcheff scored at least 11 points in three out of four matches, including an 11-0 technical fall over Andrew Hochstrasser, an opponent that beat Mitcheff in the semi-finals of the US Open one year ago. Mitcheff has dedicated the past few years to chasing his Olympic dream, but was halted by NC State Assistant Coach Obe Blanc in the finals. With only the champion of the tournament advancing to this week’s Olympic Trials in Iowa City, Mitcheff will be forced to be a spectator for the competition. Danny has done an outstanding job with his training and participation with the RTC and Beat The Streets Philadelphia programs. His contributions have been greatly appreciated. The Pennsylvania RTC is confident that Mitcheff’s best wrestling is still ahead of him.

Mitcheff Results:

Mitcheff over Ludwin TF 11-0

Mitcheff over Kuhn TF 11-0

Mitcheff over Hochstrasser TF 12-2

Blanc over Mitcheff TF 11-0

Canaan Bethea finished the Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier with a 1-2 record. He drew a tough Josh Asper in the first round, and fell into the consolations where he picked up a solid victory over Anthony Bonaventura in the next round. His third opponent would be his final match of the tournament, as he dropped a 15-8 nail biter to Frank Richmond. Bethea went on a few scoring bursts in the match, but was unable to overcome the front-headlock turns from Richmond. Bethea’s effort was evident in his training and in his competition. After just graduating last May, his international career is only in the beginning stages. He will make the trip to Iowa City to help prepare fellow Pennsylvania RTC teammate Richard Perry for his shot at Olympic glory. Canaan is a valuable contributor to Beat The Streets Philadelphia, and is also a co-founder of Beat The Streets Trenton. Bethea is an elite human-being, on and off of the mat.

Bethea Results:

Asper over Bethea Dec 7-0

Bethea over Bonaventura Dec 9-1

Richmond over Bethea Dec 15-8

Mitcheff and Bethea to Compete at the Last Chance Qualifier

2016-03-31

This weekend, Pennsylvania RTC resident athletes Danny Mitcheff and Canaan Bethea will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete at the Last Chance Qualifying tournament. The field will be loaded with top athletes from across the country competing for the last remaining spot at the Olympic Trials. Only the winner in each weight class will secure the coveted spot at the Olympic Trials.

Danny and Canaan have made tremendous progress over the year and the PRTC wishes both the best.

Strong Prtc Showing at the Bill Farrell International

2015-11-24

After several months of training at home in University City, Philadelphia, PA, as well as the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, our athletes finally got to shine at the 1st Olympic Trials Qualifier, The Bill Farrell International. With that said, the field was very tough having top ranked wrestlers from USA and International senior levels entered in at each weight class. Dan Mitcheff 57 KG, Canaan Bethea 86 KG, and Richard Perry 86 KG all made their debuts representing the PRTC.

Starting the PRTC off at 57kg Dan Mitcheff had an impressive day. First match 6-0 win against Canada. Second match 10-0 tech against Mark McKnight. Third match Danny ends up getting caught on his back against Ali Nasser of USA. He goes on to wrestle back and beat Alan Walters 7-0, then 10-0 tech against Frank Perrelli before losing 12-2 to Dan Dennis who placed 3rd.

Next Canaan Bethea our recent signee from UPenn (Finished 7th at University Nationals) not only makes his debut at the international level but receives a bye in the first round. He then unfortunately gets paired against his training partner Richard Perry who knows him all to well and gives Canaan his first loss. Canaan wrestling tough in his second match gets caught in a gut wrench that ended the match for him. Canaan is young and has a bright future ahead of him!

Richard Perry nearly had a perfect day. He opens up with a 10-0 tech against Andrew Sorenson. Next match he wrestled Bethea. Perry then avenges a loss from last years Nationals by defeating Ryan Loder which sends him to the Semis. Perry loses a one-point heart breaker which had the room on their feet to top ranked Ed Ruth. The match went back and forth with questionable calls that ultimately cost Perry the loss. Despite his loss, Perry stayed focused and rallied to win two tough matches earning himself a bronze medal!!!

All in all it was a strong showing and lets us know what we need to do to put ourselves in a position to get on the this year’s Olympic Team. Next stop US NATIONALS in LAS VEGAS! #PRTC

Prtc Practice

2015-07-23

Penn and Drexel have collaborated to become the FIRST RTC of its kind in the country to include two college programs working in unison to develop athletes! We want to work to become the “Gold Standard” as a Regional Training Center nationwide. This includes both the incorporation of the best practices from other RTC’s, as well as the creation of new standards to assist wrestlers across the nation that have aspirations of making the Olympics.

The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC) is an outstanding resource for interscholastic, collegiate, and Olympic wrestlers in the Middle Atlantic Region. From a college coaching perspective, the PRTC allows us to engage and build relationships with elite high school wrestlers early on in their developmental process. It also provides additional year-round training partners and coaching resources for our current Penn wrestlers. Finally, the PRTC provides an avenue by which those of our graduates with Olympic aspirations can continue their competitive wrestling careers. We’re very fortunate to have access to all that the PRTC provides. ~ Alex Tirapelle Head Wrestling Coach University of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC) was established in the fall of 2014 and has been designated as an official Olympic Training Center by USA Wrestling and The United States Olympic Committee. Dan Mitcheff (57 KG) and Richard Perry (86 KG) are currently training full-time through the PRTC. They are both working hard to achieve their Olympic Dreams, to develop skills that will serve them in future endeavors and to support others in achieving similar goals. The goal of these two athletes is to make the 2016 Olympic Team in Rio. It starts now!

Dan Mitcheff Added as Full Time-time Pennsylvania Rtc Athlete

2015-07-15

The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC) is excited to announce the newest member at 57 Kg Dan Mitcheff, who started training full-time with us starting July 1, 2015. In college Mitcheff was a two-time Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion and was twice named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the MAC Tournament as a junior and senior. The four-time NCAA qualifier capped his career with being named the MAC Wrestler of the Year and earning All-America honors as a senior in 2010.

Mitcheff has also proved to be a top contender in freestyle at the 57kg weight class. He is a 4X men’s U.S. Freestyle National Open place winner, finishing 3rd and 6th place in 2014 and 2015 respectively. He was also a Guelph Open champion in Canada and a Bill Farrell International Open finalist in 2014.

The PRTC is excited to support Dan in his quest to achieve World and Olympic success and the other athletes training with us will clearly benefit from having him in the room on a consistent basis. Head Coach Brian Dolph is eager to work with Dan Mitcheff and Richard Perry, who joined us in May.

If you are interested in supporting the PRTC and the athletes we support please contact our offices directly via phone at 216-372-9324 or email at briandolph@https://pennsylvaniartc.org.