Daryl Arroyo

April 03, 1962 - Present

Daryl Arroyo began his involvement in the sport of wrestling at Jonathan Law High school in Milford, Connecticut in 1976. As a senior he won the State Open Championship in 1980. He attended Springfield College and was a 3X National Qualifier and a NCAA Division II All-American (6th) in 1984. His college coach Doug Parker is also a member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 1984-1985 Daryl worked as an assistant coach at Central Connecticut State University with National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Ken DeStefanis. For the next three seasons (1985-1988) he served as a graduate assistant wrestling coach at California State University Fullerton with National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Dan Lewis. After graduating from Fullerton with his Master’s degree Daryl returned to CCSU as an assistant coach for two more seasons (1988-89, 1989-90).

 In 1990 he began his 21 year career as the Head Coach at his alma mater Springfield College. While at Springfield Daryl received conference Coach of the Year honors in 1991, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2011. During his time at Springfield he coached 70 National Qualifiers, 27 NCAA All-Americans, 67 Scholar All-Americans, and 45 Conference Champions. His teams won 10 New England Wrestling Association championships, one Division II Northeast Regional title, with 5 top-ten NCAA Division III finishes. His teams excelled academically, 12 times finishing top twenty in the nation in varsity GPA, with six finishes in the top ten. Coach Arroyo served as president of the Division III National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) from 2004-2007. He finished his coaching career at Springfield College with 303 wins, 167 losses, and 6 ties.

 Coach Arroyo founded the Springfield Wrestling School in 1997 and ran this week-long wrestling camp for hundreds of student-wrestlers until 2011. He has been inducted into several athletic Halls of Fame including the Springfield College Athletic Hall of Fame, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Connecticut Chapter, NCAA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame, and New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Hall of Fame.

 Daryl completed his PhD in Sport Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1996. During his last 4 years at Springfield College he served as the Department Chair of Physical Education and Health Education. Dr. Arroyo moved out of coaching in 2011 to become the Director of Athletics, Physical Education, Recreation, and Intramurals at Alfred State University in New York. In 2013 Daryl moved to Stockton, CA to become the Athletic Director for San Joaquin Delta College, one of over 100 colleges in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA). During his time as Athletic Director, Delta College student-athletes outperformed Delta students and CCCAA student-athletes on most significant academic measures. Athletically the department had 5 of their 6 highest finishes in the NATYCAA Cup (overall athletic success in the CCCAA) with 9th in 2014, 7th in 2015, 12th in 2016, 4th in 2017, and 3rd in 2018 (prior to this, 11th was the highest finish in 2005). In July 2017, Dr. Arroyo became the Dean of Instruction for Humanities, Social Science, Education, Kinesiology, and Athletics (HSSEKA) at Delta College. In the fall 2020 restructuring of the academic Divisions HSSEKA was changed to Social Science, Education, and Public Service (SSEPS). Thus, for the first time Daryl no longer had Athletics as part of his occupation.

Awards:

Year
2022
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
Massachusetts
Year
2016
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
Connecticut

All American Awards:

Season
1984
School
Springfield
Tournament
Division II
Weight
118
Place
6

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