Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Kean

If you go into a school in New Jersey & ask the teachers where they obtained their degree there's a good chance many will tell you that they went to Kean.  A Division III school located in northeastern, New Jersey at one time they produced pretty good wrestlers too. Good enough to have finished in the top 10 both at the 1989 & 1991 NCAA Division III championships.  Good enough to have won the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) team title in 1993.  The Cougars discontinued wrestling after the 1995-1996 season. 

Joe Dasti
118 lbs 

Dasti has a standout career for the Cougars winning two NJAC titles & making All American status on two occasions.  He finished third in 1988 at the NCAA Division III championships, making the finals in 1989. 

He was later an assistant coach  at Norwich High School. 

Frank Croce
142 lbs 

A graduate of Roselle Park High School, Croce finished in sixth place at the NCAA Division III championships in 1990 before winning a title in 1991. 

Ives Viola
HWT  

Viola finished in third place for the Cougars at the 1991 NCAA Division III championships. 

Steve Giordano
190 lbs 

A graduate of South Plainfield High school where he was a state champion, Giordano began his collegiate career wrestling in the NJCAA for Middlesex County.  Competing for Kean, he took fourth place at the 1994 NCAA Division III championships. 

Ben Bevens
177 lbs 

Bevens won an NCAA Division III title for the Cougars in 1995. 

Chris Steinbacher
134 lbs 

Chris Steinbracher got it done on both the mat and in the classroom.  A two time Academic All American, Steinbacher earned trips to the NCAA Division III tournament in all four of his seasons.  In his last two, he won two NJAC titles as well as taking seventh place All American honors in 1993 & third place All American honors in 1994.   

Post college he became a psychologist.