Director of Operations
Mark R. McLaughlin, MD is a Board-Certified practicing community Neurosurgeon in the greater Princeton area and has been a youth wrestling coach for over two decades. Throughout his coaching career, he helped create the Princeton Wrestling Club and, seven years ago, cofounded Trenton Youth Wrestling and Learning Center. During his tenure as President of Trenton Youth Wrestling and Learning Center, the program has expanded to six Trenton schools and offers programs to boys and girls in the Winter, Spring, and Summer. This program has touched the lives of over 1,000 Trenton boys and girls. Dr. McLaughlin is involved in every level of wrestling and serves as the Chairman of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Concussion Task Force. He has lectured nationally on youth coaching and development. Being a surgeon and a coach serving the Trenton community is an honor Dr McLaughlin regards as one of his greatest ongoing achievements.
Alex Bethea is a co-founder and board member for Trenton Youth Wrestling. He has over 40 years of experience as an educator in the Trenton Public School District. He served in various roles with Trenton Public Schools including teaching, athletic coaching, and administration. He also served two terms as a City Council Member for the City of Trenton.
Benny Soffer, MD has been a life sciences investor for the last 18 years. He is currently the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Sky Life Sciences and Soffer Holdings. Prior to Sky Life Sciences and Soffer Holdings, Benny was a co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Consonance Capital, a healthcare investment firm focused on publicly traded healthcare companies, particularly innovative life sciences companies. Benny is Treasurer for Trenton Youth Wrestling.
Robert Schmidt is an entrepreneur and commodities trader. He is currently the founder of CyVantage (a cyber “Defense Contracting” firm), a Board Member of the Cyber Conflict Studies Association and the Intelligent Cyber Research LLC. Mr. Schmidt is also a Guest Lecture for Johns Hopkins Graduate School in Intelligence Analysis and a Member of the Atlantic Council. He is Secretary for Trenton Youth Wrestling, he is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Princeton Wrestling Club (and the President of the Corporation).
Robert D. Prunetti is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Ventures, LLC., a government relations, business development, and management consulting firm. Mr. Prunetti currently serves on the Trenton Literacy Foundation Advisory Board, Trenton Public Education Foundation, is the Chairman of the Trenton Workforce Advisory Board and serves on the Capital City Redevelopment Authority. He is also a charter member of the Community Advisory Council of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The College of New Jersey.
Lawrence Parker has worked for over four decades at Trenton Central High School and started as a teacher of Drafting and Cisco Networking Technology, eventually working up to his current position as Vice Principal of the Medical Arts Small Learning Community. During this time, he held positions as Head Coach of Football, Wrestling, and Assistant Track Coach. In addition to coaching on the High School level, Lawrence also coached midget football and wrestling.
Gloria Bethea has previously served as the Director of Learning for Trenton Youth Wrestling. Gloria served as a Trenton Public School teacher for over 30 years. In addition to serving on our board, she is the Learning Academy Director for Capital Harmony Works, which provides musical instruction and artistic opportunities for Trenton youth. Gloria is an educator and lifelong learner.
James Ware Jr. MD is the current Medical Director of the Primary Stroke Center at CentraState Medical Center. He was previously the Director of Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers at Capital Health. Dr. Ware wrestled at the Pingry School in high school and was a wrestling partner on the same team as Dr. McLaughlin. Dr. Ware went on to wrestle in Pitzer University and then went on to get his medical degree at UMDNJ.
Lori Ayres is the Director of Operations at the California Olympic Wrestling Regional Training Center. She is also the co-founder of the D1 Women’s Wrestling organization, a group working to drive the growth of women’s wrestling at the collegiate level. She’s a media content creator working with several national wrestling organizations in an effort to showcase and educate the women’s wrestling community. Lori assisted as a leader in the NJ state sanctioning process and currently serves as the northeast regional representative for the USA Wrestling Women’s Age Group Council.
Matthew Tormenti, MD is a board-certified neurosurgeon with Princeton Brain, Spine & Sports Medicine in New Jersey. Dr. Tormenti is a native of Pittsburgh, PA where he was a standout high school wrestler who went to wrestle at Virginia Tech, one of the nations top wrestling institutions. Dr. Tormenti us a huge supporter of our military and is a leader in the Travis Manian Foundation.
Dr. Channing C. Conway was elected to a three-year term as a member of the Ewing Township School Board. Dr. Conway is a longtime educator who began his career as a teacher and has worked his way up the administrative ranks. He currently serves as an Assistant Superintendent in the Trenton School District and an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey. In addition, he is also a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.
Gennaro Costabile is a long time restauranteur and has built a variety of businesses under the umbrella of hospitality for more than four decades. He is recently retired but has not stepped away from his true passion, philanthropy. Gennaro is the founder of two organizations aimed at improving the lives of those in need, with a focus in children, including Food for America and Caring Cooks Academy. He has also served on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Children's Home Society of NJ, as well as the NJ Farmers Against Hunger association. Gennaro's vision extends beyond charity; his mission has always been to foster a profound sense of community and togetherness.
Canaan Bethea is a Trenton Youth Wrestling co-founder. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree in Educational Psychology at George Mason University. He is also a professor, and former assistant wrestling coach at George Mason. Canaan was a 2010 NJ State Wrestling Finalist for Trenton High School, and wrestled at the University of Pennsylvania, finishing as two-time NCAA national qualifier.
Chris Kuenne, founder of Rosetta and Rosemark, is a highly successful entrepreneur, business builder, best-selling author and member of Princeton University’s faculty. Throughout his career, he has been fascinated by the question of what motivates people to act as they do in a commercial context. He has devoted his career to translating insights about customer motivation into personalized sales and marketing techniques that accelerate enterprise growth.
He published a Wall Street Journal best-selling book entitled, Built For Growth, with his Princeton colleague, John Danner.
Chris received his MBA with Honors from Harvard Business School, and his BA from Princeton. He is the proud dad of three sons, Peter, William and Matthew and lives in Princeton, NJ, and Shelburne, VT with his wife, Treby Williams.
Canaan Bethea
Co-Founder | Director of Mentorship
Mark R. McLaughlin, MD
Co-Founder | CEO
Alex Bethea
Co-Founder