Pat Santoro

Biography

He played an integral role in the renaissance of the Lehigh wrestling program in the late 1990s. In his first year back, he led the Mountain Hawks to a school-record 23 dual wins, a second place EIWA finish, and was named EIWA Coach of the Year. In his 10th season, Bethlehem native Pat Santoro led the Mountain Hawks to the top of the EIWA, winning the program’s first EIWA title since 2006 and 35th overall. That accomplishment, plus a 12-3 dual season that resulted in a No. 8 final dual meet ranking, led to Santoro to earn NWCA National Coach of the Year honors. Santoro enters his 19th season looking to maintain Lehigh’s place at the top of the EIWA, while molding the Mountain Hawks into a perennial top ten team and national championship contender. Santoro was hired in April, 2008 as just the eighth head coach in program history. He holds the title as the Lawrence White Head Coach of Wrestling at Lehigh. A seven-time EIWA Coach of the Year, Santoro has mentored two NCAA Champions at Lehigh, the second of which, Darian Cruz won the 125-pound title in 2017. He has led 29 individuals to a total of 47 EIWA titles, while guiding 22 men to 39 total All-American honors. Santoro finished the 2025-26 season with a dual meet record of 202-93-1 at Lehigh. He guided Lehigh to four consecutive EIWA team championships from 2018 through 2021 and added back-to-back EIWA championships in 2025 and 2026. Lehigh won its 40th EIWA team championship in 2025-26, with the Mountain Hawks crowning five