Coach Privitere has served as the head coach of the Briar Cliff wrestling program since the 2011-12 season.
Privitere led the Chargers to a 6-2 GPAC dual record in the 2020-21 season for a third-place regular-season conference finish. Chris Paulsen and Ben Peters won GPAC Championships for the Cliff and five total Chargers earned spots at the 2021 NAIA Championships.
Privitere send three wrestlers to the NAIA National Championships in 2019 with one All-American finish. The 2017-18 season was a historic season for the program as the Chargers were 7-1 in GPAC duals to clinch the program's first-ever conference title. He also guided Isiah Lysius, Nathan Ryan, Sonny Gulesian and Chris Paulsen to appearances at the NAIA National Championships. Privitere helped six wrestlers qualify for the NAIA national meet in the 2016-17 season with Michael Andreano, Skyler Weber, Andrew McFarland, Nathan Ryan, Nathaniel Garcia and Brian Ervin all qualifying for the national stage. During the 2014-15 season, Privitere sent three wrestlers to the NAIA national meet with Kyle Robison, Abram Reynolds and Skylar Weber. In the 2013-14 season, Privitere guided three wrestlers to the NAIA national meet as Anthony Pike, Abram Reynolds and Kyle Robison all qualified for nationals. Privitere helped Pike achieve All-American status with an eighth-place finish at the national meet.
Privitere came to Briar Cliff after serving as the head assistant coach at NCAA Div. I Davidson College for three years. Prior to that, Privitere was an assistant coach at The Citadel Military College of South Carolina, in Charleston, S.C., from 2005 until 2007.
In his first three years with the program, the roster size grew to nearly 40 wrestlers representing 21 States requiring a facility upgrade. The Charger wrestling program is housed in the McCoy-Arnold Center wil the coaching offices, practice space and locker room. In the offseason, Coach Privitere spends time on the Iowa Cadet and Junior Greco team staff helping develop Iowa summer wrestlers into winter champions. In the summer of 2013, the Iowa Junior Greco Team finished 2nd in the Country. His time there landed him the title of Northwest Regional Representative for USA Wrestling-Iowa. Recently, Coach Privitere accepted a scholarship to the NWCA Coaches Academy, a tremendous learning experience and opportunity he feels will help better himself and the program.
Out of high school, Privitere wrestled at the State University of New York at Binghamton, in Vestal, New York. The NCAA Div. II All-American was a three-year team captain for the Bearcats. The Johnson City, N.Y. native and two-time all-conference selection finished his illustrious career second on the school's all-time win chart and having set the single-season win record with 38.
In addition to his college experience, Privitere was also the 1998 High School National Champion, 1999 FILA Greco All-American, 2000 FILA Greco World Team Trial Champion and the 2000 FILA Greco World Silver Medalist.
He earned his bachelor's degree in human development and education from Binghamton in 2003. He then went on to earn his master's degree in health, exercise and sports science from the Citadel in 2007 while serving as an assistant with the Bulldog wrestling program.
Over the years, Privitere, who holds a USAW Bronze-Level Certification, has also been involved in numerous wrestling camps and clinics.
Privitere took over the program's lead from Damon Clayborne, who served as the part-time head coach for six years. Privitere is the program's fifth head coach since Briar Cliff reinstated the sport in 1997.
