By Lisa Zola-DeLibero
After an 0-22 record his first season as head wrestling coach at Ewing High School, Matt Dalessio told Athletic Director Francis Kowal, “If I don’t turn this around after 3 years, then fire me.”
Dalessio got to stick around. After three years, his team improved to 17-9 this season, and Dalessio was named District 17 Coach of the Year.
“We were at the Districts, and they were announcing statistics about the coach of the year, “ said Dalessio, who was a wrestler at Cherokee High School. “I said to myself, this sounds like me. But I was trying to focus on the match, and my wrestlers, because my team is my priority. Then they said my name, took a photo, and we got ready for wrestling finals.”
This was a moment that, for Dalessio, was more about his team than the individual award that he received.
“When I got home, my wife took a picture of me with the District Coach of the Year plaque, and put it on Facebook,” said Dalessio, about his wife Adrienne whom he met his first day teaching at Ewing, and married this past New Years Eve. “Buddies that I went to school with and wrestled with told me, on Facebook, how proud they are of me.”
A graduate of The College of New Jersey, Dalessio has been a Health and Physical Education Teacher at Ewing High School the past 5 years. He coached the wrestling team for his first 2 years as a volunteer assistant, and was named head coach the last 3 years. He also coaches spring track, and is an assistant football coach.
Dalessio said he only had one strong wrestler, Matt Dearden, in his first year as head coach.
“Other than Dearden, we had no one who had any real wrestling experience,” he said. “We ended the season with only about 6 to 10 kids left on the team who showed up in the room for practice.”
Dalessio knew he needed to do something after the sub-par season.
“I talked to the guys, and told them that they need to get on the mat over the summer, and that they needed to get involved with wrestling clinics and tournaments in the offseason,” said Dalessio. “I would go into the wrestling room after a full day of football practice in July and early August so the guys could come in and work out on the mats. After the summer, the guys came back to school, and started recruiting kids to join the wrestling team because they knew we weren’t going to win unless we filled up the lineup. When my second season finally started, we started putting talent in the room little by little.”
His second season, Dalessio and the team went 4-22, which was at least a bit of an improvement over the first season’s record. “We improved a little because we got more talent in the room, and we emphasized the importance of running and conditioning, “ Dalessio said.
Heading into this season, Dalessio, felt more confident about his team, ending the season 17-9 which was a huge improvement over the past two years, making his wife a lot happier with a less grumpy husband at home.
“We had kids like Jonathan Prieto who took fourth in the Districts at 106, his brother Adam who had 20 wins, and Austin Spuler, who had 17 wins, “ said Dalessio. “These seniors were great for us this year, and they helped greatly improve our team record.”
The wrestling coaches in the District have a great deal of respect for one another, and Dalessio gives credit to Lawrence head wrestling coach Chris Lynne for “really taking me under his wing.”
The key match of the season for Dalessio was when his Blue Devils took on Adam Jankos’s Steinert Spartans.
“The match came down to two freshman who had to wrestle two experienced guys from Steinert, “ said Dalessio. “ We were down by 11 points with two matches to go. The mood was somber after a bad loss at 160. I talked to the official who said that he called it as he saw it, and to him, it was a pin. So I knew I had to get the team pumped up.”
After Patrick Smith from Ewing went out and pinned his opponent, winning the match was becoming reality.
“I didn’t watch a second of the final match, “ said Dalessio. “ Our assistant coach Darren Baisch was coaching our freshman Junior Guerrier. I just couldn’t watch. All of a sudden, I heard a roar coming from the gym, and I turned around to see our guy pinning his opponent. We won by one point. The match was unbelievable, and it was the highlight of the season.”
For Dalessio, now that the season is over, he has time to bask in the glory of his and the team’s success. “It meant so much to me that my family, my parents, and the other coaches were supportive of me and the team, “ said Dalessio. “I couldn’t be more proud of my team. Our season was proof of what hard work and dedication leads to.”
