Shippensburg University Athletics

Kevin Boccella is one of the most successful wrestlers from the first decade of Shippensburg’s transition from the NCAA Division I level to the NCAA Division II level. From 1998-2001, Boccella qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships in three of his four seasons, winning a pair of NCAA East Region Championships at 184 pounds and finishing as the national runner-up at 184 pounds as a junior in 2000.
 
As a junior in 1999-00, Boccella’s most successful season resulted in a second-place finish at 184 pounds at the NCAA Division II National Championships. He became the first Raider to make it to a Division II National Championships final. Boccella finished second to three-time national champion Steven Saxlund of North Dakota, who gained the lead with eight seconds remaining in the national championship match.
 
Boccella, who had been injured earlier in the season, overcame that setback to achieve the All-America classification. He was one of five Raiders to qualify for the NCAA Championships that season. With the combination of his performance and teammate Jeff Putt’s fourth-place finish at 125 pounds, the Raiders finished 12th overall at the 2000 NCAA Division II Championships.
 
As a senior in 2001, Boccella moved up to 197 pounds and was the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation at the weight class during the fall. He won the Binghamton Open and finished second at the Kutztown Invitational. He later qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive year, and for the first time at 197 pounds.
 
Also in his career, Boccella finished as a PSAC Championships runner-up – an especially difficult feat given that half of the conference at the time was competing at the NCAA Division I level.
 
Boccella’s single-season career best for wins was 30, achieved as a sophomore in 1999. He is one of just 12 Raider wrestlers in history to achieve at least 30 wins in a season.
 
Boccella graduated from Shippensburg in 2001 with a degree in sociology. He was a graduate assistant coach at Chadron State before returning to Pennsylvania. He later returned to coach at his alma mater, Upper Merion High School, spending four years as the head coach and four years as an assistant coach. He has worked for more than 12 years as a real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway and recently returned to school to study physical therapy.
 
Boccella has been married to his wife, Dana, for 13 years. The couple are the proud parents of six-month-old fraternal twins, Lexi and Paxton.