BURBANK, IL - St. Laurence High School is excited to announce the hiring of Arturo Nesci ‘01 as the first ever head coach of the school’s girls wrestling team.

The 2024-25 season will be historic for female wrestlers at St. Laurence, as it will be the first time in school history in which girls will compete as their own program. While St. Laurence has had female wrestlers in the past, they mostly participated as part of the boys program.

“We are ecstatic to offer girls wrestling as our 28th sports program at St. Laurence,” said St. Laurence Athletic Director Tim Chandler. “As we do with all of our athletic teams, we look forward to fielding a competitive program and building it into one of the area’s best. Coach Nesci’s combination of wrestling experience and Viking pride will allow us to do just that.”

Nesci brings a strong wrestling pedigree to St. Laurence as both an athlete and coach. A 2001 graduate of St. Laurence, he was a state qualifier as a Viking. After St. Laurence, he wrestled at the collegiate level at Millikin University. Nesci’s coaching career at St. Laurence began in 2005, when he served as a wrestling coach until 2009. He returned to coaching in 2022, when he took on a role with the Astros Youth Program.

“Wrestling and St. Laurence have played a huge role in who I am today,” said Nesci. “It is an honor to be able to give back to this program and school."

Coach Nesci is the latest in a line of exciting updates for St. Laurence wrestling over the offseason. Tim Cocco ‘83 recently joined the program as an assistant coach, bringing decades of coaching expertise from Thornton Fractional South. Additionally, the school recently partnered with Joe DiGregorio to run his new youth program, Midway Wrestling Club, out of St. Laurence.