Cherry Hill East wrestling is getting a fresh start, and a familiar South Jersey face is leading the way. Collin Wickramaratna, a Cherokee graduate, collegiate All-American, and former Division II coach, has now taken over as East’s new head coach and a Special Education teacher. His goal is to build confidence, modernize the program, and guide the Cougars toward a winning record.
Wickramaratna is coming to coach at East after being the assistant coach at Kutztown University and West Virginia’s West Liberty University, where he spent the past two years developing Division II wrestlers. The former Cherokee and collegiate athlete replaces his high school teammate Ryan Manahan, who is continuing his coaching career in North Jersey at Hunterdon Central High School.
The connection between the two Cherokee alumni proved to be very important in Wickramaratna getting the position as East’s Head Wrestling Coach. Manahan texted him about the opening shortly after deciding to leave. Around the same time, Athletic Director Mike Beirao’s son gave him Beirao’s contact information at a summer wrestling club Wickramaratna runs, and another former Cherokee teammate who works as the assistant coach encouraged him to apply for the position as head coach.
“I had three different people tell me to apply,” Wickramaratna said.
To Colin Gorman (‘27), the change in coaches represents a clean slate for the team.
“It’s kind of like a fresh start for everyone,” said Gorman. “It’s cool to see what he brings; he was a college coach, and that’s cool to bring college coaching experience to high school.”
That college coaching experience that Wickramaratna brings to East comes from his astounding wrestling past. At Cherokee, Wickramaratna had a program record 149 wins and finished third in the state tournament as a senior in 2018, compiling a 44-2 record.
During his time at Ursinus College and Kutztown University, he then went on to get 93 wins, giving him the opportunity to earn the NCAA Division II All-American honors for the 2019-2020 season and winning two NCAA Division II “Super Region 1” titles. Although in college, he qualified for Division II and Division III National Championships, the Division II National Championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The success that Wickramaratna had in collegiate wrestling carried over into his coaching. While coaching the last two years at the Division II level, he developed 12 national qualifiers, six All-Americans, and one national champion. Through both schools he coached at, Wickramaratna feels that he found the most success at West Liberty.
“I felt personally, probably at West Liberty because we were short-staffed,” Wickramaratna said. “When I was there, it was just me and the head coach, so I was running around left and right, but as for team success, definitely Kutztown.”
Although his position is just beginning at East, Wickramaratna is already using his expertise to help prepare the team for the season. After school, he has implemented preseason conditioning with the wrestlers two times a week and lifting three times a week. Although the whole team doesn’t attend these sessions, Wickramaratna can work with and help improve the people who do show up.
Officially, the East Wrestling Team begins practicing on the Monday before Thanksgiving.
However, Wickramaratna’s vision for the team goes beyond physical training.
“I’m going to try to repaint our wrestling room because it needs a new look,” he explained. “It looks like it’s from the 1980s and needs to have a 2025 type of look to the room”.
He also plans to work alongside Beirao and the Booster Club to install a board to display the wrestlers’ achievements at State sand Regional tournaments.
“I plan to make some adjustment[s] that’s going to make the room nicer, and kids want to want to wrestle,” Wickramaratna said.
Not only does Wickramaratna want to renovate the wrestling room, but he also has a short-term goal of building confidence in his wrestling team.
“I feel like I’ve been watching them when we’re in a stance, or we’re running or lifting,” he said. “They’re not confident in themselves to do it. So that’d be the first thing to build up.”
Although Gorman has only met Wickramaratna once, he notices his collaborative approach and rich history in wrestling.
“He brings a different level of wrestling to the team. He wrestled at Kutztown, obviously. He had All-American honors there. So maybe our practices will shift a little bit to what college wrestling may look like,” said Gorman.
The Cougars’ practicing college-level training goes directly with Wickramaratna’s goals for the team. He wants his wrestlers to develop better wrestling IQ, specifically in their shot selection and stances.
“Understanding the basics of if you’re leading with your one leg, you shoot certain shots versus you leading with the other leg,” he explained. “Just basic IQ wrestling stands stuff that not just here, but high school wrestlers in general struggle with that will excel their wrestling knowledge past other kids and prepare them for college.”
The Cougars finished with a 15-37 record over Manahan’s two seasons, and Wickramaratna has his mind set on an even better winning record during his time as coach at Each.
“Breaking over that 500 goal,” he said. “I’ve seen the past two years, we’re pretty close to being a 500 team.”
The end goal for Wickramaratna and his team is to win a conference championship. In doing so, he is excited to go against familiar South Jersey schools, such as Cherokee, Lenape, and Shawnee.
“I’m excited to get this ground running and start wrestling with the guys in November,” Wickramaratna said.
For a program looking to reach its short and long-term goals to find success, the combination of Wickramaratna’s experience, dedication, and approach to building the wrestling team up mentally and physically may be exactly what the Cougars need to achieve a winning record and successful season.