Questions About Collingswood Wrestling Team Dominate BOE Meeting

At the end of the 2012 school year, the Collingswood High School (CHS) wrestling team, coaches, and parents were all assembled at a Board of Education meeting to celebrate a milestone year for the program, which included the loss of veteran organizer Dan Trainer and its 700th win.

But many of those same faces were gathered in the Zane North Elementary School all-purpose room on Monday evening bearing confused looks, as reports surfaced of an alleged rift between the volunteer coaches of the CHS wrestling program and Athletic Director Ronald Hamrick.

Details were scarce, and answers were not quick in coming from the board, as personnel matters require advance notice before public discussion.

"I am asking all of us to come up with a solution that will help us move forward," said board member Terry Moody, whose son Declan is the CHS paid wrestling coach.

"I don't see it as a board issue at this time," said board member Lisa Soulos, who advised the board that personnel decisions are handled by Oswald.

'Things are being made difficult on purpose' 

Volunteer coach Tom Plotts said that the coaching staff—which also includes Bob Onorato, Joe Downing, and Bill Clark—is in the dark about what's happening.

Plotts, who grew up three doors down from Hamrick and wrestled for him as a student, said that the coaches were "blocked out" from participating in wrestling activities at the high school and middle school for "no reason."

Plotts said it had been "implied that we were breaking rules," but couldn't explain what the coaches were alleged to have done.

"We didn't change anything," he said. "The only thing I've done is run a board-approved practice."

"It feels as though things are being made difficult on purpose."

"I want to like him," said Downing of Hamrick during the meeting. "He makes it really hard."

After the meeting, Superintendent Scott Oswald said that, to his knowledge, no coach has been frozen out of participating in team activities. 

He said that the school had previously had an issue with students being allowed in the wrestling room without proper supervision, but that placing a key fob on the door resolved that issue.

"I'm satisfied with the wrestling program," Oswald told Patch. "I think different people are seeing things through different lenses."

'They care enough to be there for us' 

Outside the meeting, some CHS wrestlers who had attended the meeting—and then left early on Downing's advice—weighed in on the uncertainty with kind words for their coaches.

"I'm going to wrestle the next three years because of my coaches," said CHS sophomore Kevin Walters.

"They taught me more than wrestling," Walters said. "I owe a lot to them. They're there for us."

"I've been wrestling my whole life," said his teammate Colin Lex. "They've made my season fun."

Lex said that, more than just coaching technique, the Panthers coaching staff "spend[s] more money out of their own wallets" to support the program, including contributing to purchasing the wrestlers' varsity jackets, among other things.

"They volunteer their own time," Lex said. "They care enough to always be there for us."

"Hopefully [the Board is] going to do the best thing for the kids," Downing said after the meeting. 

"I just want an open line of communication."