Coaching Staff

STEVE WAGNER, Bartels-Nicholas Head Crew Coach

Coach Wagner is in his 29th year at Rutgers, serving as the Director of Rowing and Head Coach of the Men’s Crew for the past 25 years.  Under Steve's direction, the Rutgers Crew has excelled, producing many nationally ranked crews, Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship finalists, and many memorable regular season victories in Rutgers’ traditional “cup” races.  Most recently, Rutgers won the silver medal at the 2005 IRA in the Varsity 4, and the 2003 Rutgers Men’s Heavyweight Varsity 8 advanced all the way to the final of the Henley Royal Regatta in England, beating the heavily favored home town crew Leander Boat Club along the way.

Wagner’s coaching philosophy is simple:  teach basics, train the athletes with a well planned effective system, create competitive situations where the athletes can learn, and above all else, make sure the program is a great experience and fun to be part of.   His success in these areas is why so many Rutgers oarsmen have been successful, and why many have gone on to represent the United States at the World Championships and Olympic Games.  In fact, over the past 20 years, the Rutgers program has produced more members of the U. S. Olympic Rowing Team than any other university in the country, including 4 members of the 1992 Olympic team, 6 members of the 1996 Olympic team, and 4 members of the 2000 Olympic team.

Wagner is a 1976 graduate of Rutgers School of Engineering with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.  While at Rutgers, he rowed 4 years on the very successful lightweight crew, finishing 2nd at the EARC Sprint Championships and 2nd at the Head of the Charles Regatta, still the best all-time finishes for Rutgers.  He was crew captain his senior year.  In 1974, Wagner was awarded the Mason Gross Award for “contributing the most to the success of the varsity lightweight crew”.  

Upon graduation, Wagner began his coaching career while in graduate school at the Florida Institute of Technology, where he produced three consecutive undefeated Freshmen crews, and won the 1979 Dad Vail Regatta (small college National Championship) in the Freshmen 8 and Freshmen 4 events.  His next stop was Columbia University, where his freshmen crews turned the program around, defeating several league opponents for the first time in many years.

Wagner returned to Rutgers in the fall of ’83 to take over the women’s crew program.  His 1984 Women’s Varsity 8 was the most successful and highest ranked women’s crew Rutgers has ever produced, and their highest finish ever (5th) in the Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges.  For the next 3 years, Wagner served as the Freshmen Heavyweight Men’s Coach.  His 1986 Freshmen Crew finished 4th in the Grand Final of the IRA National Championships, and his 1987 Freshmen Crew finished the regular season undefeated, making the Grand Final of both the EARC Sprints and IRA Regattas.  Wagner became Head Coach in the fall of 1987 upon the retirement of Rutgers legendary coach of 27 years Bill Leavitt.

Wagner received a Masters Degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers in 1990. For several years, he served as a part time adjunct professor in the Science Department of Middlesex County College and Raritan Valley Community College.  He also coaches basketball for a local grammar school, and serves as an assistant coach for the local “Pop” Warner football team.

Wagner was the Director of the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont for 25 years, from 1979 – 2003.  He is co-founder and co-Director of the Raritan Valley Rowing Camp at Rutgers University, a summer rowing camp for high school students.  Established in 1991, it was the first, and remains the oldest, university affiliated rowing camp in the country.   Wagner is also founder and Director of Black Bear Sculling, a summer sculling program in Hanover, NH specializing in single sculling for all ages.  He has been involved with numerous rowing clinics over the years, and was selected to be a presenter at the 2006 “Joy of Sculling” Coaches’ Conference.

Steve and his wife Susan live in Piscataway, NJ, and have five children and two grandchildren. Daughters Colleen ’99, Jaclyn ’01, and Maureen ’07 are all 4 year members and three year varsity letter winners for the Rutgers Women’s Crew. Sons Stephen and Patrick are in high school.

Email: swagner@rci.rutgers.edu

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JONATHAN STEPHANIK, Assistant Coach

Coach Stephanik starts his 2nd season at Rutgers. His primary duties include coaching the freshman team and recruiting coordinator. He will also assist head coach Steve Wagner in the day-to-day operations and administration of the overall program.

Coach Stephanik's past experience includes several years as assistant coach at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, PA and assistant coach at the Fairmount Rowing Association. Jon coached the freshman and novice program and assisted with the varsity team at Episcopal, starting rowers on the path that eventually lead to several Stotesbury and Scholastic National Championships in the last 10 years. During the summers Jon coaches for the junior program at the Fairmount Rowing Association in Philadelphia on Boathouse Row. Fairmount is a growing junior program and has had great results the past few years at the Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Youth Regatta, and the Royal Canadian Henley.

Coach Stephanik is originally from Marietta, Ohio. He attended high school at Marietta Senior High where he was the team captain both his junior and senior year. He sat stroke seat of the Varsity 8 at Marietta High from sophomore to senior year. He won several medals at the Midwest Championships and made the finals at Scholastic Nationals.

Coach Stephanik rowed collegiately for Syracuse University. He is a 3-year varsity letter winner and was part of the Varsity 8 from 1999 to 2001. Jon won numerous races while at Syracuse against EARC competition with their best showing being 9th place in the Varsity 8 race at the 1999 IRA's.

Coach Stephanik graduated from Syracuse University in 2001 with degrees in Supply Chain Management and Marketing.

Phone: (732) 932-4226

E-mail:  jonsteph@rci.rutgers.edu

 AARON DOLIBER, Graduate Assistant Coach 

Aaron starts his first season this year at Rutgers. He will be assisting Coach Stephanik with the freshman team. Aaron is currently completing a Master’s of Science in Civil Engineering at Rutgers with a concentration in Structures.

Aaron is from Fanwood, NJ and threw discus and javelin his senior year for one season at Scotch Plains-Fanwood HS. He then walked-on and rowed at Cornell University for 4 years. He was part of numerous Cornell crews which competed against the top of the EARC league, including a freshman squad undefeated in the regular season 2007 and a Junior Varsity crew which placed 9^th at IRAs in 2009. Due to a combination of fall and spring injuries, he recovered only to compete in the 3^rd varsity in his senior year. Cornell was named 2010 EARC co-crew of the year, along with Harvard University, for its 3^rd place Varsity finish and entering of all four boats into the grand final at IRAs.

Aaron graduated from Cornell in 2010 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and is an Eagle Scout and member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, where he served for three semesters as Sound Body Chairman. He is currently studying to pass the NASM Personal Trainer Certification.