By Don Pigeon
At Downingtown’s Bishop Shanahan High School, the westernmost institution of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, student activities are grouped into three categories.
“First of all, we want to give students opportunities to grow spiritually, “explained Shanahan athletic director Hank Berardi. “The second emphasis is to grow academically, and the third – but not least – is the opportunity to grow athletically.
While the introduction of scholastic wrestling for 2005-2006 falls squarely into the third category, there is evidence of a spiritual element in the program’s inception. The creation of a wrestling program during a time when many colleges are dropping the sport due to Title IX constraints requires the convergence of several unlikely elements.
Enter West Caln resident Al Holeton, who didn’t become a wrestling enthusiast until his senior year at Bensalem High School.
“I wrestled during my middle school years, but then I concentrated on football until 12th grade, “said Holeton, who will become the first head coach of the Shanahan wrestling team. “I continued to wrestle when I attended East Stroudsburg University, but I was just a typical kid on the team who had average results.
“But what happened during those years was that I became a student of the sport, “added Holeton.
After graduation, Holeton’s wrestling education continued as he coached the Coatesville Kid Raiders youth program for seven years, followed by four years as an assistant coach with the Lionville Frightnin’ Lightnin. Having coached his sons Allan and Kyle with the respective programs, Holeton was not actively seeking a varsity coaching role.
“I though coaching at the varsity level had passed me by, “said Holeton. “If anything, I thought at one time that I might be an assistant football coach with a high school.”
“But it seems that God pointed me in the direction of coaching wrestling, and I now I’m blessed with the opportunity to witness the start of a new high school program.
While personal circumstances made Al Holeton available to coach at Bishop Shanahan, more elements were needed to bring the wrestling program into existence.
One of the reasons that many colleges are eliminating wrestling programs is that the sport does not generate the sums of revenue that football and basketball provide. On a smaller scale, the same situation exists in high school programs. For a school like Shanahan, the start-up costs of wrestling include mats and a storage system for the off-season.
During the 2004-2005 youth wrestling season, both Kyle Holeton and a Lionville teammate were facing the end of their scholastic wrestling careers. Since both children were slated to attend Bishop Shanahan, they would not have school teams to join upon entering high school.
“I spoke to my wife Patty about letting Kyle attend a public school to have a chance to wrestle, “said Holeton. “Her answer was that our son would have a Catholic education no matter what impact it had on his sports interests.”
But the parents of Kyle’s teammate decided that if they could not send their child to a school with varsity wrestling, then they would bring a varsity wrestling team to their son’s school. The boys’ father – who has requested anonymity – began discussions with Hank Berardi, Shanahan President Sister Regina Plunkett, and Principal Sister Maureen McDermott.
“The gentleman first contacted the Sisters during a parents meeting in November, “recalled Berardi. “They examined the feasibility of added a wrestling program and then Ted Torrence (assistant AD) and I became involved during December.
Ultimately, the parties agreed that the parent would donate the mats and storage system to the school and the athletic department would reserve practice space and develop a meet schedule for a club program.
“Sisters Plunkett and McDermott are always looking for ways to expand the offerings for our students, “said Berardi. “We feel that adding the sport of wrestling at this time is worthwhile for the school because outside of basketball there aren’t many winter sports opportunities for the boys.”
Another benefit for Shanahan is that wrestling is a popular sport at the other five schools that compete in the Ches-Mont athletic conference. Bishop Shanahan already competes in the Ches-Mont in football and basketball, and there is the potential for joining the conference in wrestling within the next three years.
“We expect that we will proceed slowly with building the program, “said Berardi. “I don’t want to speculate on how quickly we will be able to compete at the varsity level, or how quickly we would join the Ches-Mont or Southern Chester County League.
“But we will be evaluating the status of the program each year, and if the program grows in size and competitiveness, we would be open to applying for league membership down the road.”
Holeton expects that even at a club level, Shanahan will likely wrestle varsity parochial programs such as Cardinal O’Hara, Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Carroll. He would also like to arrange meets with the Downingtown schools and Oxford.
As May 1, the athletic department had received inquiries from at least 15 boys interested in wrestling for Bishop Shanahan in 2005-2006. While not every interested student ends up joining the team, Berardi and Holeton are enthused by the relatively high level of interest.
“People are talking about the program within the school itself and within the youth clubs in the area, “said Holeton. “One advantage we’ll have over the public schools is that we draw students from all of Chester County, from Oxford to the south to Norchester in the north.
While many elements have been put in place for the birth of Bishop Shanahan wrestling, Berardi and Holeton would like to see one last piece fall into the puzzle.
“The athletic has no budget for wrestling coaches, “said Holeton. “I’m presently working as a volunteer and I have no assistant coaches. We’re hoping that someone out of the local wrestling community would have an interest in getting this program off by serving as a volunteer assistant coach.”
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