Bio

Wente brings 28 years of coaching experience to his tenure with the Matadors. In his 12 years as a head coach in the NJCAA, the Scottsdale native garnered over 500 wins—totaling over 1,000 in his college coaching career. Wente also coached the U18 USA National Team to a silver medal in the World Championships in 2006.

“We are extremely pleased to have Coach Wente lead our baseball program at Arizona Western College,” said Athletic Director Jerry Smith. “Jon brings a wealth of experience both at the two-year and the four-year levels of baseball. He is no stranger to the ACCAC; as he spent several years at a very successful program at Central Arizona College.”

After playing college ball at Central Arizona, Arizona State, McNeese State, and even continuing on to one year of professional baseball in Canada, Wente returned to Central Arizona as an assistant coach, where he helped lead the team to win the NJCAA National Championship.

 "Very excited to be back in one of the top junior college baseball leagues in the country and to be at Arizona Western,” Wente shared. “Want to thank Dr. Corr, Jerry Smith, and the administration for entrusting me with this great opportunity to lead a program again. Also, want to thank Coach Keehn for all he has done for this program and the successes they have had. I can't wait to get started. Go Matadors!"

 While Wente has spent a majority of his coaching career in the ACCAC, he spent the last several years shaping pitchers at Division I schools like Sacramento State University and Grand Canyon University. In his tenure as a pitching coach at Sacramento State, Wente coached the 2025 WAC Pitcher of the Year and led his pitching staff to place in the Top 15 in the NCAA for Walks Allowed as well as Top 25 for Strikeout-to-Walk ratio for two years running.

In the words of Director Smith: “We are certain Jon will bring a winning tradition to Matador Baseball.”