Barry Hart joins the Kean University staff as the head women's wrestling coach in 2026. He previously served as the head coach of New Jersey City University's women's wrestling program for four seasons. Prior to that, he served as NJCU's top assistant women's wrestling coach for two seasons.
Hart's teams were constantly ranked within the top 20 in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), including as high as #9 in the nation during the 2023-24 season. During his tenure he produced two National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship (NCWWC) regional champions, two NCWWC All-Americans and one NCWWC NATIONAL CHAMPION — Sandy Guerrero in 2023-24; she was also named the entire meet's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
During his time as an assistant, Hart was responsible for the program's wrestling development, recruiting, social media management and culture building. He also helped Jersey City earn three All-American honors and six National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship (NCWWC) qualifiers.
Prior to his time at NJCU, he spent nearly a decade with Beat The Streets in New York. He has been with the organization in some capacity since 2013, serving in various roles such as program associate, assistant coach and — most recently — the head boys coach from September 2020 until June 2022. In 2019, he was named BTS' Assistant Coach of the Year. Hart helped guide his programs to multiple outstanding team finishes, highlighted by five runner-up accolades over a four-year span from 2017-20, as well as two championships: 2018 Public School Athletic League (PSAL) Girls Individual Freestyle Team Champions and 2018 Gotham City Girls Open Champions.
Individually, Hart oversaw a pair of All-Americans, four New York State Freestyle Champions, a Greco State Champion, 10 state placers, four PSAL Champions, 21 PSAL placers and two Brooklyn Borough Champions. In addition to his roles with BTS, Hart served as a high school assistant coach with the Wingate Educational Campus in Brooklyn from September 2016 to December 2019. During that time, the program amassed a 40-21 overall record, including a 2019 Blended 2 Division Championship and the 2017 Girls Brooklyn Division title.
A collegiate wrestler himself, Hart was a 2017 graduate of Hunter College. He spent two full seasons from 2014-16 as a 149-pounder with the Hawks's Division III program. Before that, he was a two-year member of the Niagara County Community College program from 2012-14, where he was named a NJCAA All-Academic team selection.
A native of Brooklyn, Hart currently resides in Jersey City with his partner and their two young daughters.
Updated 7-10-26
