Wrestling: Mr. Belvidere: McIntyre hits 300 wins

Belvidere coach Dan McIntyre is a wrestling lifer. He started out in the sport at 10 years old and has been hooked ever since.

McIntyre, 53, added to his already impressive resume on Wednesday night, when the County Seaters wrapped up the Skyland Conference Mountain Division title with a 60-9 victory over Rutgers Prep -- coached by former Warren Hills state placewinner Mike Lamb. 

Belvidere with the 300 banner. (courtesy of Seth Wisner)

That win was No. 300 for McIntyre, who previously served as head coach at Saucon Valley (1993-99) and Pleasant Valley (1999-2005) high schools in the Lehigh Valley's powerful District 11. Prior to those stops, he also coached at St. Anslem's Abbey, a private school in Washington, D.C.

"The last two years Manville beat us [for the division title] and prior to that we had won three in a row," said McIntyre, whose team scored a 48-27 victory over Manville on Monday, following a 14-day pause due to COVID-19. "This [season] has been awful [with COVID]. For our division, Manville has been our main rival and it's always a competitive match. I was pleased [coming off the break and having just one practice before the match]. We wrestled well and it was our Senior Night."

Belvidere (6-3, 4-0 division), like most small schools, has its share of challenges in normal seasons. But COVID-19 has undoubtedly made it tough for many schools with trying to keep numbers up and also get enough matches for wrestlers to stay invested in the program. McIntyre and his right hand, Seth Wisner, a former Seaters standout and Centenary College wrestler, are two of the most dedicated coaches around.

"Winning the division was at least something for the kids," said McIntyre, now 114-86 in 10 seasons with the Seaters and 300-219 in 29 seasons overall, who said his program lost five scheduled dual meets due to the COVID shutdown.

True to form, Belvidere's schedule has included matches against some of the traditional powers, like Kittatinny, as well as division and rivalry matchups. The Seaters will close out the dual season with North Warren at home on Tuesday and Bound Brook away on Wednesday.

With the individual tournaments two days away, junior Patrick Horvath (106), along with seniors Ty Tiedeman (120), Hunter Lensi (126) and Shane Exley (170), will represent the Warren County school in the North 2 Super Region (3-4) Tournament at Union High School this weekend. A fifth qualifier, senior Carson Grogan (3-1 at 195), was forced to withdraw from the tournament.

Horvath (8-0) may have the best chance to reach the state tournament at Phillipsburg High School to be held the following weekend on April 24-25. Stuck behind Lensi, a state qualifier at 106 in 2020, the previous two seasons, Horvath was often forced to compete up a weight at 113. 

Even so, he did score an impressive 11-3 major of Livingston's Adian Carmody, now considered one of the top 106-pounders in North 2, last season, and went 30-6 as a sophomore (going 15-2 in bouts at 106).

"Patrick has been kind of flying below the radar," said McIntyre, a social studies and special education teacher at Belvidere since 2005. "He goes to [a club in Pennsylvania] and puts in the time. He took [Carmody] down like five times in our gym [during a dual meet]."

McIntyre, who surely has an eye for talent, compiled quite an impressive resume as a wrestler in both the high school and college ranks. A 1986 graduate of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pa., McIntyre was a two-time PIAA Class AAA runner-up and District 11 champion under legendary coach Frank Gutierrez, who made quite an impact on his wrestlers.

"He was toward the later years when I wrestled in high school," said McIntyre, who went on to become a two-time NCAA qualifier and three-time Atlantic Coast Conference placewinner at Maryland, where he graduated in 1991. "He could take kids who didn't have experience, but were tough city kids, and give them discipline. I thought he was very organized and structured, and he could relate to kids. He commanded respect."

Those qualities certainly rubbed off on McIntyre, who has been successful at all three of his coaching stops in our area. None of which were traditional powers by any stretch. Belvidere didn't become a force on the state level until Kurt Weaver took over in the early 1990s, and then under Marty White, who served as Weaver's assistant before taking the reins.

McIntyre guided Quinn Melofchik to a pair of state medals in 2018 and '19.

In recent seasons, Belvidere hasn't challenged for sectional titles, but opponents know they will have a battle on their hands against the Seaters, who are always prepared and well coached.

"At Pleasant Valley, we took [that program] about as far as it could go. Saucon Valley wasn't much of a program when I started there, " McIntyre said. "We had some good kids and some state placewinners [including two-time PIAA Class AA finalist and state champion Joey Killar]. We had six or seven kids who could go with anyone in the state, but we had to hope they'd all win.

"Belvidere was refreshing because it didn't matter if scheduled matches against Group 3, 4 or 5 schools because they would always be competitive matches. At Pleasant Valley, I could predict within one match what our record would be before the season ever started.

"I love coaching. I tell the kids, 'I accomplished what I did in the sport. Now it's your turn to go out and get some recognition.'"

Well coach, it's still OK for you to get some recognition as well, and 300 wins -- and counting -- is quite a milestone. Congrats to one of the good guys in the sport.