Buzzards Bay, Mass. --  Tom Mantopoulos, a nine-year veteran of the United States Coast Guard now stationed at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Falmouth, Mass., has been named as Head Rifle Coach at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.  Mantopoulos’s appointment, which is effective immediately, was confirmed today by Bob Corradi, Massachusetts Maritime’s Director of Athletics.

A resident of Forestdale, Mass., Mantopoulos succeeds Oliver Deibert, as the longtime Coast Guard officer was assigned to new duties in the Cleveland area.  Deibert guided the Buccaneers to Marksman Division Varsity Smallbore crown at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships as well as the 2010 Admiral’s Cup title with a dual-match victory over Coast Guard. 

A native of Rochester, N.H., Mantopoulos began his career in the Coast Guard in 2002, as he served aboard the Cutter Campbell in both New Bedford, Mass. and Kittery, Maine as the Armory Supervisor and 76mm Gun Weapon System Maintenance Supervisor until June 2005 when he began a three-year tenure aboard the Cutter Boutwell in Alameda, Calif., serving in the same roles while also serving as a small arms instructor.  Mantopoulos returned to New England in July 2008 as a member of the Coast Guard Maritime Safety Security Team stationed in Boston, where he served as Armory Supervisor while also serving in dual roles as Small Arms Instructor and Advanced Marksmanship Instructor.  Tom serves in the position of Coast Guard Force Readiness Command at the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

“Tom brings a great deal of experience and enthusiasm to our program, and I am pleased to welcome him to the Buccaneer family,” Corradi said of Mantopoulos’s appointment.  “As we welcome Tom to the Academy, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer great thanks and appreciation to Coach Deibert for all of his hard work in bringing great success to our program—he went above and beyond the call of duty for our student-athletes, and I am grateful to him for that.”

The Tom Mantopoulos era of Massachusetts Maritime rifle begins during the first weekend of October with competition at the two-day Mid-Atlantic Conference Invitational that will take place at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.