Wrestling: 'No-brainer' for P'burg to hire Gentzle

It doesn't get much bigger when it comes to public high school wrestling in these parts than being the head coach at Phillipsburg High School.

It's without a doubt the toughest and most scrutinized position when considering the expectations to win and dealing with a rabid fan base and parents, etc. It's not a job for everyone.

Perhaps that's why so few applied or showed serious interest when the Stateliners opened the job, just internally at first, and began the process to find the program's 13th head coach last month. As reported here, it was not the extensive, exhaustive process one might expect it to be.

Turns out, that person was already in the building. Brad Gentzle, a longtime assistant, was approved as the new head coach during Monday night's Board of Education meeting. The former Easton (Pa.) and University of Pittsburgh standout now begins life for the first time as the main man in charge. And all signs indicate that he was the only choice as far as the school is concerned.

"When somebody who's been an 11-year assistant and has done everything you ask and more, and is passed over, what kind of message does that send to him, and more importantly, the rest of our assistant coaches," athletic director Tom Fisher said, when asked about the hiring process and what led the 'Liners to promoting Gentzle.

"We have loyal assistants here at P'burg and very seldom have turnover with our coaches. Brad has been one of our main clinicians in the room. [Brandon] Paetzell and [Brian] Meyer, two Lehigh graduates, said he was very instrumental in their careers [as state placewinners and runners-up for P'burg]. It was a no-brainer for us."

As Fisher pointed out, the school also hired within the last time around when former state placewinner Dave Post took over for the 2010-11 season. His teams went 155-24 (second-most wins in program history) and won eight sectional and six Group 4 state championships during his 11 seasons in charge. That was the longest one-stint tenure for the program (Jan Dutt served 10 consecutive seasons from 1970-80, going 132-25). 

Since Dutt stepped down following the 1979-80 season, there have now been seven head coaches at P'burg and only two -- Jason Magditch (four seasons from 2006-10 and a Nazareth (Pa.) alum) and now Gentzle -- were not former Stateliner wrestlers. Gentzle served an assistant coach under both Magditch and Post, who was not rehired after he and and longtime assistant Scott Silvis were arrested in May for their alleged roles in a scheme to influence a tenure vote at the school.

Besides Gentzle, there were only two other candidates who officially applied for the job: Middle school coach Tim Longacre, who will be Gentzle's top assistant on the high school level, and former P'burg wrestling great and coach Rick Thompson, who said he was never granted an interview in his quest to embark on a fourth stint with his alma mater. 

It's unclear whether the other two even underwent interviews in the traditional sense.

"We had about six, seven who sent in applications or resumes," Fisher said. "We didn't solicit [for a coach]. With the media and social media, everybody knew the job was open and how it became open. Most importantly, we had a heckuva candidate right in [the building]."

Fisher also said the combination of Gentzle and Longacre, along with assistants and former P'burg wrestlers Bryan Kopesky and Jared Crouse, was a great package deal.

"Why go out and look when you have a qualified, deserving person who has been working for you?" Fisher said. "We know what we're getting with Brad. We know his work ethic and his morals. Why try to reinvent the wheel?

"Tim Longacre has been the main person responsible in developing our feeder program. He's a teacher and he never had any skin in the game, as far as having a son who wrestled. He did it because he loves P'burg wrestling. They're all teachers and we feel strongly about having educators as coaches."

The most revealing part of the process was just how involved John Garriques, whose name was floating through the rumor mill, was in finding a new coach. The head coach at Centenary College and former Stateliner state runner-up, didn't respond when asked by Open Mike if he was a potential candidate when reached via email earlier this month.

"We had some discussions with John. He was a sounding board for us," Fisher said. 

Garriques was a fan favorite during his high school days and would have been an extremely popular hire with the P'burg faithful. His son, Owen, is coming up through the Stateliners' youth program. 

Garriques, who came to Phillipsburg following his freshman season at Hackettstown, went 106-19 from 1993-97, winning two district titles and three state medals (fourth in 1995, fifth-sixth in '96 and second in '97). At Centenary, he's guided the Cyclones to an overall mark of 111-85-1 in 15 seasons and had an NCAA Division III qualifier in all but two years. 

He has coached several of the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area's top wrestlers over the years, including Kittatinny graduate Chris Burdge, the program's first four-time All-American and current head coach at Sussex County Community College.

"Johnny's just not ready for high school yet. Maybe someday," Fisher said. "He's done a fine job at Centenary. He said he has unfinished business there and wasn't ready to leave yet."

Gentzle, 34, was a two-time region qualifier and PIAA District 11 champion, and a Class AAA state qualifier in 2005 at Easton (Pa.) for coach Steve Powell. He went on to become an NCAA Division I qualifier at Pittsburgh under coach Randy Stottlemyer.

Gentzle inherits a team that is expected to challenge for North 2, Group 4 sectional and Group 4 state championships in 2021-22. The 'Liners return 10 starters (seven seniors), including state qualifiers James Day (75-27 career) and David Pierson (52-37), along with former state qualifier and HWS Tournament champion Nate Zastowny (35-9 as a sophomore and 8-5 last season).