Chris Leese enters his sixth season as the head wrestling coach at Penn State Mont Alto. The 2019-20 season was arguably the most impressive in program history. Coach Leese guided the Nittany Lions to a program best record of 16-5 in duals and were crowned MEC Conference Champions, while also sending eight wrestlers to the NCWA National Championships. PSUMA won the NCWA Mid-East Conference title over 11 other schools, topping Rowan Univerity with 105.5 team points and Coach Leese was named NCWA MEC Coach of the Year.

Conner Herron, Mason Blank, Jack Coulston, Bryce Palamar, John Halbrendt, Ron Schilpp, Nick Kostyak and Eric Wilson each punched their respective tickets to the NCWA National Championships where Coulston became the first All-American in program history at 141-pounds. Both Conner Herron and Mason Black had top-12 finishes in the 133-pound weight class, and freshman Nick Kostyak was just as impressive with a 12th place finish at 174 pounds. At the conclusion of the 2019-20 academic year, Kostyak was the co-male recipient of the Marty Ogle Student-Athlete of the Year Award.

The 2016-17 season saw the Lions have one of their most successful year to date with a 10-10 overall record and second-place finish in the PSUAC. Mont Alto finished seventh out of 25 teams at the NCWA Mideast Conference Qualifier and sent five wrestlers to the NCWA National Championships. Leese coached up Clay Kocsis who was named an All-American after an outstanding season where he went 29-1 overall and finished second at the NCWA National Championships in the 174-pound weight class.

A 20-year coaching veteran, he has experience at the middle school, high school, and college levels. He was most recently the head coach at Boiling Springs Middle School.  Leese has also been a head coach at Fairfield and Carlisle High Schools.  He also coached at Mechanicsburg High School, Gettysburg High School, and Shippensburg University.

Leese wrestled for Kutztown University, graduating in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in education, general science.  He earned over 50 wins and was ranked nationally, but injuries kept him from national competitions.  Leese wrestled at Boiling Springs High School where he earned over 80 wins in three years.  He was also a two-time State Qualifier, a two-time District III SC Region runner-up, and a two-time District III Section I Champion.  He was a two-time USA Junior Greco-Roman wrestling All-American, and an AAU Cadet Greco-Roman National Champion.

Leese resides in Boiling Springs and teaches science in the South Middleton School District. He also serves as the varsity assistant soccer coach and the head middle school soccer coach at Boiling Springs High School.