Friday, June 17, 2011

Belvidere wrestling job on hold following meeting

Belvidere High School is still without a head wrestling coach after discussions were tabled at the last Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.

According to Superintendent of Schools Dirk Swaneveld, both candidates, Tom Noto and Dan McIntyre, will be discussed openly at the next meeting on Wednesday, July 27 with the hopes of reaching a decision.

Swaneveld said that an outpouring of public support from both parents, wrestlers and fans for Noto on Wednesday, prompted some board members to table the motion to name a new coach.

"Some parents spoke for Tom [Noto] and townspeople," Swaneveld said. "And the athletes did a nice job on his behalf."

Noto, 29, has been the coach for the past four seasons, but was not immediately rehired for 2011-12. He doesn't hold a permanent position at the school, while McIntrye is a social studies teacher.

Noto, a two-time New Jersey state champion at South River and standout at Hofstra University, inherited a program in 2007-08 that was on the verge of becoming either a co-op program or dropped all together. Numbers were very low and the Seaters were forfeiting a number of weight classes. Belvidere went a combined 35-92-1 from 2001 until his arrival and was 1-26 the season before he took over from former coach Brett Hyland, now an assistant at Warren Hills.


In his first season, Noto's team finished 7-12-1. This past season, Belvidere went 9-12 and qualified for the sectionals for the first time in 10 years, beating Madison, 33-30, in the first round before a 41-33 loss to Boonton in the semifinals. The Seaters are 37-54-1 overall in his four seasons.

McIntyre previously was the head coach at Pleasant Valley High School in Pennsylvania and is a former star wrestler at both Liberty High School in Bethlehem and the University of Maryland.

4 comments:

  1. Wow this sounds like things are really awkward: two respected guys, one position.

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  2. Mike..I thought the board meeting was July 27th?

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  3. According to the school's web site it is July, 27. I thought Swaneveld said June 27. My apologies for the error. Thanks for pointing it out.

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  4. McIntyre should remove his name from interest in this position. That is the honorable thing to do. This job clearly belongs to Noto. The team, parents, and fans obviously want him to stay with the team and have respect for him and the program he has begun.

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