HEAD COACH

ELIJAH OLIVER

Coach Oliver serves as the Head Coach of Capital Wrestling club and is responsible for running the various programs across ages and skill-sets and the general operation of the club. He will be serving as a coach to the club members who attend tournaments.

Prior to his joining CWC, Elijah served as an assistant wrestling coach at the University of Maryland for 4 years. Elijah was a 4x NCAA qualifier and 4x Big Ten placer and in high school won a Fargo National Championships in freestyle. Before Maryland, Coach Oliver spent a season working with high school wrestlers resulting in 3 All-Americans, 5 state champions and 13 state placers.

olivertrained@gmail.com /  708-536-0107

COACH

TEAGUE MOORE

Teague was one of the top-ranked high school wrestlers of the 1990s before going on to a standout career at Oklahoma State, where he won an NCAA Division I title. He then competed internationally for over a decade, representing the U.S. at events across Asia, Europe, and North America and earning a spot on the U.S. National Team.

• NCAA Division I Champion (118 lbs, 1998) — 3X All-American, 4X NCAA Qualifier
• 3X State Finalist and State Champion, North Allegheny High School
• Gold medalist, University World Championships (Tokyo)
• 3rd place, 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials; U.S. National Team member
• International titles in Canada, Turkey, Russia, and Japan

COACH

MAX MELTZER

A Silver Spring, Maryland native, Max built a standout high school wrestling career at the Bullis School and Blair Academy before going on to captain the Harvard University wrestling team, where he earned All-American honors and graduated in 2007 with a degree in Sociology.

• 3X Prep National Champion; 2X Private School Maryland State Champion, NJ Private School State Champion
• Team captain, Blair Academy — ranked #1 high school team in the U.S., Walsh Jesuit IRONMAN champions
• 4-year varsity letter-winner and team captain (junior & senior years), Harvard University
• 1st Team All-Ivy League (2006, 2007); NCAA Division I All-American, 8th place nationally
• 2X Maccabi Games freestyle gold medalist (2005, 2009)

COACH

JAY LAVALLEY

Jay competed for over two decades before transitioning to coaching in 2004. He is also the founder of JO Wrestling, training elite athletes worldwide and serving as a liaison with the Korean National Team. Jay joined CWC in 2023 with a mission to give wrestlers of all ages the training they need to grow in skill, mind, and body.

• Masters Greco All-American, US Open
• Competitive athlete 1988–2009; coaching since 2004
• Massachusetts High School State meet runner-up (cross country) and 8th-place state wrestling finisher, 1994
• NCAA Division II wrestler and qualified track athlete (800m), UMass Lowell
• Reebok Boston sponsored athlete, 2000–2005
• Senior Freestyle Wrestling competitor at 60kg, 2006–2009

COACH

KATIE RIGHTER

Coach Katie is an assistant varsity girls wrestling coach at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, where she has helped build one of the top girls wrestling programs in the region. A Gaithersburg, Maryland native, Katie wrestled for Gaithersburg High School before coaching at the high school level, and now brings that competitive background to training the next generation of wrestlers at Capital Wrestling Club.

• Assistant Varsity Girls Wrestling Coach, Sidwell Friends School
• Helped lead Sidwell Women's Division to a 2nd-place finish at National Prep
• Coached 3 NHSCA All-Americans
• Regional Champion, Gaithersburg High School
• Qualifier, inaugural Maryland Girls' State Wrestling Championship
• Coached 2 national finalists and a DCSAA State Champion