KD Training Center: Half A Decade Of Dominance

Photo: Justin Hames Photography‍

KD Training Center: Half A Decade Of Dominance

New York Wrestling News was fortunate to sit down with Khaled Dassan, the Founder and Head Coach of the KD Training Center, alongside some highly decorated wrestlers that have came out of the esteemed club headquartered in Westchester. The KD Training Center has been around since 2020 and has quickly grown to be one of the most respected wrestling clubs not in just New York, but the country. The list of world class kids that have trained consistently at KDTC has grown to include PJ Duke, Zack Ryder, Max Gallagher, Tyler Ferrara, Cam Howard, Gavin Mangano, and Jason Kwaak. Outside of the confines of New York, we find athletes such as Roman Bravo-Young, Rocco Welsh, Matty Lopes, Zach Ballante, and Jayden James that have continued to walk through the training facility doors.

In addition, the staff continues to grow and includes many respected and decorated wrestlers, most being products of New York wrestling communities and are now giving back to the next generation of future New York greats.

The last few years of success for the KD Training Center have been a product of the staff they've assembled, the people they bring in, and the constant flux of college coaches that grace the room. One of the best things the KD Training Center continues to do is bring in college coaches, which allows their athletes to get exposure to the staff and showcase their talent inside a controlled environment. In recent months we've seen Penn State, Lehigh, Johnson & Wales, NC State, Princeton, Cornell, Hofstra, Stanford, and UPenn  coaches walk into their room to run practices. Ironically, many KD wrestlers have gone on to wrestle at some of the aforementioned schools.  

When we pull back the curtain, what is it about the KD Training Center that creates world class athletes?

Behind The Curtain

It's noticeable at every meaningful high school or national tournament, Coach KD is in attendance. He was sitting in the corner at the Eastern States Classic when Jason Kwaak's match against nationally ranked Griffin LaPlante went down, and he was supporting his athletes at every national tournament or world team trials tournament this summer.

When asked about his commitment to his athletes and how he keeps showing up, he said, "I build real relationships with my athletes, and once that bond is formed, it’s hard for me not to be there for them. When you earn an athlete’s trust, it’s incredible what you can accomplish together. That’s why you see me at every event because I care deeply, and our athletes know there’s not much my staff and I wouldn’t do for them. What drives me is simple: it’s the joy on their faces when they achieve something they’ve worked for. That moment is what gives me true fulfillment. Their goals become my goals."

Another thing that's noticeable is the way all KDTC athletes compete. They all go out and for six minutes they keep the scorekeeper busy and exhaust the scoreboard. We asked Coach KD about the mentality he and the staff instill in their athletes, and what the identity of their club is, and it made complete sense.

Coach KD said, "A mentor asked me a question recently: “What’s one word you want to be remembered by as a coach?” If you asked 20-year-old me, I probably would’ve said “Greatest.” But with some maturity (not too much, he laughs), and after spending serious time in this sport, I realized the word is selfless. I want to be remembered as a coach who always put his athletes first and was willing to do whatever it took to help them succeed.

Then he asked, “What’s the one word you’d want your athletes to be described as?” And without hesitation, I said fearless. That’s something we talk about daily at KDTC—being fearless in the way we compete, train, and approach life. The most successful people in the world are fearless. We want our athletes to carry that same mindset on and off the mat.

As a club, our identity is rooted in passion. From the athletes to the parents to our coaching staff, you won’t find a more passionate group of people. We love what we do, and we know it’s a blessing to be able to do it every day. At the core of everything we teach is to be the best version of yourself on the mat and in life because being the best version of yourself is all you can do and all you can truly control."

Coaching Staff

When pulling back the curtain of the KD Training Center it should be no surprise that it all starts with the coaching staff. This staff is jam-packed with New York wrestling legends who  have gone on to have major success at the collegiate level. Founder and Head Coach, Khaled Dassan, recently announced that Tommy Askey (Pine Bush HS, Minnesota) would now be coaching at their Westchester location after his collegiate career with the Minnesota Gophers came to a close. Askey burst onto the high school stage in 2019 when he placed 4th at the NYS tournament. He then followed it up with one of the more memorable finals matches in 2020 when he beat reigning state champion and Super 32 All American AJ Kovacs (Iona Prep HS) who was ranked 5th in the country at the time of their match. Askey went on to wrestle at Appalachian State where he was a 2x Division I National Qualifier and 2x Southern Conference champion before transferring to Minnesota for his final year of eligibility. At Minnesota he placed 5th at the Big 10 Conference tournament where he notably beat former national finalist Jacori Teemer (Long Beach HS, Iowa) and the #1 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs at the time in Ethen Miller (Maryland). He earned the #9 seed at the national tournament where he made the blood round for the second time in his career.  

Around the same time Coach Dassan announced that Anthony Sparacio (North Babylon  HS, Binghamton) would be coaching at their second location on Long Island. Sparacio held over 185 career high school wins and went 41-0 in his senior season en route to winning a 2016 State Championship for North Babylon. He finished his career as a NHSCA All-American and was ranked as high as 14th in the country. He ended up staying on Long Island and wrestling at Division II LIU Post, who has now transitioned to being a  Division I wrestling school. While at LIU he qualified twice for the Division II National  Tournament and placed 6th at the Division II National Tournament in 2016 where he won three straight matches in the consolation bracket. He finished collegiate career at Binghamton where he qualified for the Division I National Tournament in 2019 and held a 49-26 record over this last two years.  

Continuing to hold down their coaching staff since they opened their doors include Justin Lopez (Yonkers HS, Johnson & Wales) and Alex Delacruz (Ossining HS, Iowa Central). Lopez found himself on the podium at the NYS tournament twice in his career and had a  stint at Penn State before he ultimately landed at Division III powerhouse Johnson & Wales. When at JWU he ultimately ended up becoming a Division III All-American in 2021 when he  placed 3rd at 125 lbs. After his collegiate wrestling career concluded, Lopez was an  assistant coach at his alma mater before ultimately heading back to New York and coaching at the KDTC.  

Delacruz was a 2013 NYS champion at 120 lbs and 2x state finalist out of Section I before  he briefly wrestled at the University of Pennsylvania. After his stint at UPenn he finished his collegiate career at Iowa Central where he was a NJCAA National Champion. At the NJCAA level Delacruz was still incredibly competitive with Division I wrestlers - he notably  wrestled close matches with multiple time Division I National Qualifier (and Oklahoma assistant coach) Cameron Sykora, while he also held wins over wrestlers from powerhouse programs including Drake Swam (Iowa State) and Mitch Maginnis (Nebraska). Delacruz now continues to coach at the KDTC and is also an MMA fighter.  

Other coaches on the KDTC coaching staff that have been added in recent years include Tony Negron (North Babylon HS, Arizona State), John Marsh (New Bedford HS, Bridgewater State), and Nick Hughes.  

Tony Negron (North Babylon HS, Arizona State) was a former 3x Section XI medalist and had stints at NC State and Penn State before ultimately ending up at Arizona State. At Arizona State he turned in quite the career where he ended up qualifying for the  NCAA Division I National Tournament and consistently ranked in the top 25 at 184 lbs.  Negron also went on to be a member of the Puerto Rico World Team. John Marsh (New Bedford HS, Bridgewater State) was a former Division III All-American at Bridgewater  State and was one of the most decorated athletes in New Bedford (MA) wrestling history  where he compiled a record of 120-16. He is currently a member of the New England  Wrestling Association (NEWA) Hall of Fame. He currently serves as one of the KDTC youth wrestling coaches.

Last 12 Months in Review

This 2024-25 season has national wrestling outlets continuing to talk about the KD Training Center and the success that they continue to have. This should be no surprise based on the massive amount of success that we've seen out of KDTC athletes beginning at Super 32. The KDTC put Gavin Mangano (6th), Oumar Tounkara (8th), and Gigi Sullivan (5th) on the Super 32 podium to start the year with Cam Howard, Anthony LaGala-Ryan, and Jason Kwaak all coming just short of earning All-American honors. Shortly after in November, PJ Duke entered in the Bill Farrell Memorial International Open and as an incoming high  school senior knocked off former Division I All-Americans in Will Lewan (Michigan) and  Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) en route to winning the senior level tournament.  

Fast forward to the New York State Tournament in February and the KDTC was represented in seven state finals matches with six emerging as 2025 State Champions (PJ Duke, Gavin Mangano, Cam Howard, Mason Ketcham, Jason Kwaak, Evin Gursoy). 10 others emerged  as New York state medalists (Dylan Shelton, Anthony LaGala-Ryan, Ryan Ferrara, Aislin Kellner, Ethan Badillo, EJ Vass, Ryan Ball, Elijah Brown, Amari Payton, Kelly Sullivan) while Gigi Sullivan competed in the boys division and was the first girl to ever qualify for the New York Division I State Tournament. Also of note is that New Jersey's Jayden James (who trains at KDTC) won the 150 lb New Jersey state title before announcing his commitment to Penn  State.  

Perhaps one of the most impressive things we've seen is Dylan Shelton's development over the last 12 months. At the 2024 Section 1 Tournament he placed 3rd and fell short of qualifying for the State Tournament. Just a year later, Shelton entered the state tournament  as the 16th seed and knocked off the top-seeded wrestler of the tournament in Zach Filip en route to a state finals appearance. Now Shelton is continuing his wrestling career at Franklin & Marshall. 

Transitioning to the Freestyle circuit, the KDTC has historically performed very well, but this year successes were perhaps unprecedented. The Freestyle circuit kicked off at the US Open in April, which also served as a World Team Trials event for the U17 age group. In the U20 group PJ Duke knocked off Landon Robideau and Melvin Miller, both star studded recruits and first or second on the totem pole in their respective weight classes. Other notable results were Cam Howard making the blood round in the U17 65kg bracket with his  two losses coming to the individuals who placed 2nd and 5th. Jason Kwaak also went 2-2 in the U20 74kg bracket which included a win over Nico Lozano, who is going to be a junior in college at Little Rock. Jayden James (Delbarton, NJ) also won the U17 71kg bracket and earned the right to represent Team USA at the U17 World Championships.  

In May, PJ Duke entered the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament at 70kg despite still being a senior at Minisink Valley. He proceeded to torch through that bracket and immediately beat Antrell Taylor who was the 157 lb NCAA National Champion from Nebraska this year by a score of 9-6. He followed that up with a 3-2 win over Ridge Lovett who was the 149 lb National Champion from Nebraska this year as well. Then in the finals,  he once again beat multiple time NCAA All-American Bryce Andonian, and Andonian had previously beaten James Green in the semifinals who is a 6x World Team Member and 2x World Medalist. By winning this challenge tournament, it would set up a best of three series with World Silver Medalist and 4x National Champ Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X, a New York living legend and one of the wrestlers PJ had looked up to when he was younger.  

A few weeks later at U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials, the KDTC continued to find  tons of success. In the U23 age group, Rocco Welsh ran through an 86kg bracket with Dylan Fishback, Jaxon Smith, and Simon Ruiz after redshirting during the 2024-25 season. In his best of three finals match he got the best of Jaxon Smith (Maryland) in 4-2 and 6-3 matches. Smith is a super tough competitor as he placed 6th at the NCAA national tournament this past year. At the U20 World Team Trials, PJ Duke was sitting in the finals as he won U20 Nationals back in April. He once again beat Landon Robideau, this time in two straight matches, with scores of 9-4 and 7-0. Also in the U20 bracket, this time at 74kg, would be Jayden James. He notably beat future teammate Joey Sealey (Penn State) and one of the P4P best high school wrestlers in Will Denny before falling to Oklahoma State commit Dee Lockett in a best of three finals series. This would now lock in the KDTC having a World Team Representative at the U17 (Jayden James), U20 (PJ Duke), and U23 (Rocco Welsh) age groups with the potential for the KDTC to put Duke, a high school senior, on the Senior World Team.  

At Final X, the long awaited matchup that the New York wrestling community was waiting for had finally come to fruition. Yianni Diakomihalis versus PJ Duke in Newark, NJ. Match one was quite the eye opener with Yianni Diakomihalis winning match one by tech fall. The comment section of almost all wrestling media posts showed fans loring at Yianni with some comments reading "Duke will have his day, but to think he can beat Yianni, that's asking too much" ... until it wasn't. PJ Duke would take match two in a high scoring affair with multiple four point throws. He then followed that up in match three where he stuck Yianni and would earn the right to represent Team USA at the Senior World Championships. The KD Training Center had now done something that was truly remarkable and impressive. Perhaps unprecedented. In a single training cycle, they had an individual representing each age level world team. Jayden James (U17), PJ Duke (U20, U23, Senior), and Rocco Welsh (U23). Boom.  

Shortly after we saw PJ Duke join FloWrestling Radio Live to discuss the last few months of wrestling, and then Head Coach Khaled Dassan hopped on the Baschamania podcast to talk shop with Justin Basch and Willie Saylor. Several other media outlets reached out as well, but there is a ton of buzz around the KD Training Center, and rightfully so. That wasn't  all from the KDTC - there was still this pretty big tournament called Fargo you might have heard of.  

Just this past month in Fargo, the KD Training Center proved that although they had a ton of older studs that are having success, their current pipeline proves that there are still a ton worthy of being called "the next up." Even with Gavin Mangano recovering from his injury at  the state tournament, the KDTC put three individuals in the Fargo National Finals with Camryn Howard being crowned a 16U Fargo National Champion at 157 lbs. The two other finalists were Gigi Sullivan (16U WFS 105 lbs) and Will Soto (16U MFS 106 lbs).  

Looking forward to the remainder of the summer and fall, the KDTC will look to support its athletes in earning World Medal and World Gold honors at the U17, U20, U23, and Senior World Championships alongside some Super 32 belts as we head into another high school wrestling season.

Half A Decade of Dominance

Over the course of the past half decade since the KD Training Center opened its doors, we have seen them continue to provide opportunities to their athletes after high school. Coach Dassan and staff have helped 25+ athletes become state champions and sent over 25 wrestlers to Division I colleges, with many more heading to Division II, Division III, NAIA, or NJCAA schools. 

The training center has also helped podium 10 New York Fargo All-Americans in Gigi Sullivan, Max Gallagher, Oumar Tounkara, Zack Ryder, PJ Duke, Chris Crawford, Gavin Mangano, Cam Howard, Will Soto, and PJ Duke. In addition to that, they have landed 5 individuals on USA World Teams since opening its doors - those individuals including Zack Ryder, Max Gallagher, PJ Duke, Rocco Welsh, and Jayden James. Outside of the USA, they've put Tony Negron on the Puerto Rico World Team and Roman Bravo-Young on the Mexico World Team.  

A few of the KDTC athletes have already gone on to qualify for the NCAA Division I National  Tournament - those include Roman Bravo-Young, Max Gallagher, Tyler Ferrara, and Rocco Welsh with PJ Duke, Zack Ryder, and Matty Lopes having a high probability of adding to that  list in the 2025-26 season.

On The Horizon

When asked what was in the works for the KD Training Center and what we can expect moving forward, Coach Dassan had this to say:

"Wrestling has given me so much. I didn’t grow up with much, but thanks to my high school Coach Pete Vulpone in Yonkers and my club coaches growing up I was given a real opportunity. Over the past five years, I’ve done everything I can to pay that forward especially to kids who come from similar backgrounds.

This year, with the support of a few great people, I launched a nonprofit so we can give back on a larger scale and grow the sport the right way. The mission is to remove financial barriers and provide kids with the opportunities, training, and gear they need to chase their goals.

I also plan to open a few more KDTC locations throughout New York and in nearby states. We want to expand our reach!"

KDTC Athlete Statements

PJ Duke (Minisink Valley HS, Penn State): "The KDTC has come a long way since the beginning days of a few guys at Animals MMA to having lots of members. Although it’s grown in numbers, there is no difference since the start. It's just a bunch of guys training hard and getting coached by the best! When it comes to wrestling my senior year at Minisink Valley I wanted to have another year with my family, friends, and coaches. I also wanted to make my last year of school memorable with my favorite people, but now I'm excited to get  into the Penn State room and elevate my wrestling astronomically."  
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Max Gallagher (Bayport-Blue Point HS, UPenn): "With great partners and a selfless coach I was able to jump levels in a very short amount of time to prepare myself for college wrestling. The coaching staff helped me develop my skills as a wrestler while also helping  me develop the confidence I needed to have any success at the next level." 
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Jason Kwaak (Brentwood HS, NC State): "Having Coach KD at my side no matter where the tournament is located means everything to me. I would have never gotten to where I am today without Coach KD and the rest of the coaching staff at the KDTC. Being in the club at  the KDTC exposed me to the NC State coaching staff when I was a younger wrestler. Being able to meet them and see how they transformed wrestlers so they are ready for the next level led me to my decision to go to NC State, but I was also considering schools like Army West Point and Arizona State."  
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Gavin Mangano (Shoreham-Wading River HS): "KD and the staff have been great. I feel that he has helped me in all aspects of my wrestling life. He’s become a friend who is genuinely interested and cares for me. He wants me to be the best version of myself. He’s able to show me technique while boosting my confidence. I’m able to go out and wrestle more free with less pressure and become the wrestle I want to be. He’s always putting me in the best environment to succeed. I’m grateful to have him as a coach and as a friend. After my state finals match I got an X-Ray the next day that confirmed I broke my fibula and the doctors didn't know how I was able to finish my match. The recovery time was supposed to be 8-12 weeks, and I was originally training to be ready for Fargo, but now will  be ready for preseason national tournaments."  
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Cam Howard (Bellport HS): "Coach KD has definitely helped me most with first my technique and wrestling IQ but I feel he’s helped me most with my mindset. He's helping  me to understand that being the best version of myself should always be put before  winning or losing. What makes the KD Training Center as good as it is, is the mindset that  KD and all the coaches push in the club. I think what really makes the difference for us is a  lot of our guys look forward to going to practice and getting better everyday instead of  seeing practice as a chore. Some goals I have for next year are to win another state title, win  Beast of the East, and win a team county title."  
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Tyler Ferrara (Chenango Forks HS, Cornell): "KD loves all his athletes, he was one of the few guys I know who will go above and beyond for every one of his athletes. He treats his whole club like family which is something I felt immediately when I was there when it was just PJ, Zack, Matty, Max and myself. One of the biggest lessons I've learned since transitioning to college wrestling was loving to be in battles every single match. There are not many pushovers at the college level, so just learning to love being in wars was a big difference."

Practices and Locations

The KD Training Center is located in Westchester at the Hackley School with an additional training facility on Long Island at St. Anthony's. Their Youth program trains on Monday and Wednesday, while the Middle School / High School train Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday each week. You can get more information on practice times and registration at kdtrainingcenter.com.