Wrestling: Shane Metzler set to guide Voorhees

Let's face it, October isn't the most ideal time to conduct the search for a head wrestling coach. 

Metzler

But Voorhees High School may have knocked it out of the park with the addition of former West Morris star and Rutgers University wrestler Shane Metzler for the fast-approaching 2024-25 season.

Metzler was approved as the sixth head coach for a storied Voorhees program that is set to embark on its 50th season during Tuesday night's Board of Education Meeting. It didn't take long for the Hunterdon County school, which opened in 1975 and is sitting on 686 dual-meet wins, to find Ricky Kurtz's successor.

Voorhees rescinded the previous appointment of Kurtz, a former star athlete and state medalist for Delaware Valley, as its head coach during the previous BOE meeting on Sept. 24. All coaching positions are contracted on a year-by-year basis. No reason was made public as to why Kurtz, 38, was removed after guiding the Vikings to an overall mark of 53-48 from 2020-24, including a 12-15 campaign last season.  

It's also unclear if any assistants on Kurtz's staff, which previously included former Vikes stars Greg Evans and Eric Zobian, will return this season.  

Metzler was one of West Morris' most decorated wrestlers and a three-time state placewinner under former coach Ken Rossi, who now serves as an NJSIAA tournament coordinator. Metzler, who's the Wolfpack's career wins leader (144), placed fourth, fifth and seventh in Atlantic City, the latter after suffering a quarterfinal loss at 126 pounds in 2017. He finished 39-5 in his final high school season.

Metzler went onto wrestle for Scott Goodale at Rutgers, where he went 22-33 overall and 2-6 in two Big 10 Tournament appearances.  

Kurtz took over the Voorhees program on an interim basis during the 2019-20 season, when former coach and Voorhees star wrestler Eric Hall was suspended following an unspecified incident that occurred during a dual meet at Bridgewater-Raritan in late January 2020. Hall was ultimately not retained that spring, and Kurtz was named as the Vikes' fifth head coach in October of that year. 

Voorhees celebrates its sectional title in 2018

Hall's teams went 183-73 overall in his nearly 10 seasons, capturing three of the school's 17 sectional titles -- two in North 2, Group 3 (2015 and '18) and one in North 2, Group 2 (2013), which ended the program's nine-year title drought.

Eric's father, Bob Hall, built the program into a state powerhouse as his teams went 332-99-5 over his 23 seasons, while capturing 13 sectional titles along with its only four state championships in Group 2 (1982 and '95) and Group 3 (1985 and '87). In 2010, Eric Hall was hired as the program's fourth head coach, following stints by former Phillipsburg coach Rick Thompson (30-26 in three seasons from 1998-2001) and Bob Angstadt (88-86 in nine seasons from 2001-10), who led the Vikes to their only other sectional title in 2004.

When Kurtz took over, Voorhees was struggling with numbers and did not produce a district champion that 2019-20 season for the first time since 2005. After going 4-9 during the COVID season in 2021, the Vikes enjoyed back-to-back winning campaigns in 2021-22 (15-8) and 2022-23 (19-10) before last season's sub-.500 season.

Voorhees also produced six district champs during Kurtz's tenure, including junior Christian Bollette (126 pounds), one of three winners last season and the team's top returning wrestler with a career mark of 55-24. No other returnee has more than 25 career victories. The trio of district golds were the most since the Vikes had four in back-to-back tournaments in 2017 and '18.