Ronnie Perry at the 2018 NCAA Tournament (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Little more than a decade ago, Ronnie Perry was a rising senior at Solanco High School with a 66-26 career record, zero appearances (let alone medals) at Pennsylvania's high school state tournament, and perhaps little reason to expect an onslaught of calls from college wrestling coaches. But what he did have was a renewed sense of focus, uncommon urgency to get better, and a belief that his best wrestling was still ahead of him.
Perry went 26-8 that season and capped it with a seventh-place finish at the state tournament, which included an 8-0 loss to eventual two-time NCAA champion Vincenzo Joseph in the first round. That finish was a strong indication of growth for Perry and a good early example of what would become a trend for him: that he could keep beating the odds to win bigger and bigger events.
Perry's only concrete offer to wrestle at the next level came in a conversation with Lock Haven coach Scott Moore, and it was a modest one. Moore knew how Perry was being trained by legendary Solanco coach John Little and saw enough in his motor and attitude to believe he and his staff could develop him.
"He's like, 'Hey, listen, 500 bucks is what I can do for you," Perry said. "At that point, I was so naive, I didn't even realize that guys were getting recruited. I didn't know the whole situation or even how it worked. I was just excited to come to school and get to work."
Perry arrived at Lock Haven as a wide-eyed 125-pounder and left as a 149-pound NCAA finalist. He was a near-perfect portrait of Lock Haven's "The Rise" philosophy as well as the Bald Eagles' ability to mine deep for unheralded talent and transform it. Perry finished his career with a 136-43 record, three appearances at the NCAA tournament and that magical run to the 2018 finals.
Perry was, in fact, the first-ever No. 15 seed to reach an NCAA championship match, which he lost by a 6-2 decision to Penn State's Zain Retherford. Perry beat higher-seeded wrestlers in the Round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals to get that shot at Retherford, including a major upset over No. 2 seed Brandon Sorensen of Iowa in the Round of 16.
Ronnie Perry at the 2018 NCAA Tournament (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Ever since then, Perry has been on a fast track to where he is now as Moore's official right-hand man. Lock Haven recently announced Perry's promotion to head assistant coach, taking the place of Nate Carr, who departed to take the head job at Davidson. Perry started his coaching career as a volunteer assistant and was most recently the head women's coach and a men's assistant.
"Ronnie has been with me from all stages, as a recruited athlete, more of a recruited walk-on, to a wrestler who overachieved, who bought into the system and the process and became a huge leader in our room," Moore said. "He came in as a volunteer coach, and then moved into the head women's coach and men's assistant.
"He's kind of been all the way through the journey and been here eight or nine years and has been big in our program with, I think, a lot of stages, just proving that you can win at this level, and then proving that he's committed and he's loyal to our program."
As part of Perry's transition to a bigger role in Lock Haven's men's program, he is going to leave his post as the first head of the Bald Eagles' women's program. Lock Haven is at the beginning of the process to hire for that job, but Perry said he expects the process to move quickly with the season on the horizon.
Both he and Moore also note that the core staff of coaches at a small program will always have their hands on everything, anyway. Perry will be a key piece of the puzzle for both men's and women's teams as the embodiment of what Lock Haven hopes its wrestlers can achieve as a small fish in Division 1's big pond.
"He has a story to tell," Moore said. "And I think that's the power and the message is that he has a story to talk about his experience and how he adapted and overcame the challenge of being a Division 1 wrestler, and then how he made that next step in becoming a national finalist.
"Now, it's exciting for him and for me to have him full force and on the men's side, and to be able to give back. I think he's a loyal guy. He's a worker. He's a servant. And now for him to be able to give back 100% to the university and to the program, we're going to see a lot of success. He's going to continue to build and progress into being a head coach one day."
The modest beginnings of Perry's wrestling career, which didn't always mesh well with the dangers of his hobby of motocross racing, are now an asset in his ability to connect with the struggles of his wrestlers. Perry has been where many of Lock Haven's wrestlers are coming out of high school and where they hope to go.
Perry knows better than most that being underappreciated by other schools or flat-out written off is far from a death sentence to wrestling goals. In fact, Perry looks back with a little gratitude that he hadn't pushed himself too far, too quickly in the sport, and that he left so much room for growth when he got to college.
"I'll tell you what, I think that played a big role," he said. "Some of my experiences in high school and maybe not wrestling all the time played a big role in how motivated I was when I got to school. You know, I wasn't burnt out from doing too much. I was hungry, excited to learn and excited to continue the hard work."
Perry just happened to fall into an ideal situation, which was a silver lining behind all the tumbles he took on his bike that cost him mat time. He linked up with a mentor in Moore who made Perry's development a personal mission of his, with a little help toward the end when he had Chance Marsteller and Dan Neff as training partners who pushed him to another level.
Now, Perry is in a position to try and help a very good Lock Haven team find its collective spark and make the same ascent he did. Meanwhile, life has come full circle for him.
Perry is spending a little more time on the bike that indirectly funneled him to wrestle at Lock Haven a decade ago, only this time he's got no time for the falls and broken bones.
"I raced a couple of times this summer," he said. "I'm a little slower than I used to be, a little more timid. I get that itch every now and again to get after it, but I'm a little smarter nowadays, for sure."
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