By NICK FIERRO
The Express-Times
No answer is right, no answer is wrong. There’s just a whole lot of gray area.
When it comes to the issue of wrestlers in the Lehigh Valley transferring from one program to another, sometimes in midseason, one explanation cannot fit all. In many cases, no explanation fits at all.
All anyone knows for sure is that more high-profile athletes move around in this sport than in any other and that many involved with wrestling find the trend disturbing.
This season alone, The Express-Times counted 14 wrestlers who are on different teams now than they were a year ago. Most are state qualifying-caliber, with many of the others just a miniscule cut below. And in some cases, such as with Easton’s Sal Crivellaro and Pen Argyl’s Nich Polly, previous transfers took place as well.
These do not include the dozens of other situations in which wrestlers came up through the midget and junior-high programs of other programs and transferred before their high school careers began.
Shawn Brice, a very good 189-pounder for Pius X, is one such example. Still a Phillipsburg school district resident, he was in that system for years before deciding to make the half-hour commute each way to improve his academic skills.
“All my friends, when I left, they were calling me traitor and everything, “Brice said. “I had to do it, though. … I think it was worth it to get a good education and be around great people.”
Crivellaro, a senior three-sport athlete, began his high school career at Easton, transferred to Bethlehem Catholic, then returned to Easton just after the Golden Hawks finished their football season this past fall. If not for injuries to both knees that eventually knocked him out of last weekend’s Class AAA Northeast Regional tournament, he almost certainly would have been among the field of 16 in the 160-pound weight class at the state tournament, which begins today.
“I wanted to try something new for educational purposes, “Crivellaro told The Express-Times earlier this season. “I think it worked out. I made some good friends there and I raised my grades. But I missed my friends back in Easton wrestling.”
Polly, a junior, was at Salisbury and Bethlehem Catholic before transferring to Pen Argyl midway through this season. He made it to regionals at 112 pounds but did not advance to states.
He could not be reached for comment.
Many of the others, such as Bethlehem Catholic’s Larry Unger, Kyle John and Evan Kolb and Pius X’s James Sciascia, George Lobb, Matt Hemhauser and Jeff Rinker, were not made available by their coaches when interview requests were made regarding this subject.
“They feel uncomfortable talking about it, “said first-year Becahi coach Brian Nesfeder, who did concede that not all transfers in the Valley are done without something other than athletic benefits in mind.
Nesfeder, who came to Becahi from Salisbury, obviously coached Unger before. So did Nesfeder’s job change perhaps influence Unger’s decision?
“I don’t know, “Nesfeder said. “He transferred here even before I got the position, so I don’t know.”
Pius X had its best season ever with the help of its newcomers, who account for three of its four state qualifiers. The Royals set a school record for wins en route to their 22-4 dual-meet season.
The PIAA technically does not permit transfers for athletic purposes and calls for a season of ineligibility for anyone who does. The only way the rule can be enforced, however, is if the school an athlete is leaving challenges the transfer’s legitimacy. This never happens in the Valley and probably never will.
Pride is the primary reason. Even within the programs that struggle the most, the feeling is that no wrestler is wanted in the room if he doesn’t want to be there.
“I can’t really do anything about it except coach the way I coach, “said Salisbury’s Cory Kuncio, who just finished his second season with a 3-8 league mark. “I didn’t let (the departure of Polly and Unger) affect my program too much. The (wrestling) room is positive, and we didn’t let it upset us.”
“It’s kind of hard to stop kids from moving around, “Pius X coach Deno Palmisano added. “It’s not just at Pius. Every school has kids that move in and move out. Education-wise, I can really see some of it.”
Coaches who benefit from athlete movement, particularly at private and/or Catholic schools with no defined drawing area, often get labeled as recruiters, which despite its spelling is a four-letter word in the high school community.
All are sensitive to the inferences, and extremely defensive when the subject is broached.
“We don’t go out recruiting anybody, “Palmisano said. “When kids come into Pius, the coaches don’t have anything to do with it. We’re a program that’s used to not having a full lineup. Last year, we had four forfeits in the lineup, so it’s not like we’re beating down doors to get kids.”
“We’ve certainly had many kids move into Easton, “Red Rovers coach Steve Powell said, “and probably an equal number move out. We’ve never recruited a kid or pursued a kid.”
Even at Blair Academy, the perennial No. 1 team in the nation that is not bound by any recruiting prohibitions, coach Jeff Buxton steadfastly maintains that he has never recruited anyone.
While the coaches may not be involved, they also admit to being proud when outsiders seek to enter their programs. And they can do little to prevent the athletes themselves from recruiting.
Everyone knows everyone else in District 11 wrestling, and wrestlers often advertise to their rivals that there might be a future hole in their lineup that needs to be plugged from the outside.
“The kids are pretty savvy, “Liberty coach Jody Karam said. “They do their research before they come in.”
Parents who always are on the lookout for better deals for their children also contribute to the transfer phenomenon.
Add in the withering state of college wrestling, in which fewer scholarships are available each year due to programs being dropped in order for schools to come into Title IX compliance, and you have a trend that likely will remain the norm forever.
“Once it starts, you can’t stop it, “Nesfeder said. “As far as rules changes, I don’t think there’s much that can be done. (Parents) would just go to court to challenge it, and nowadays they’d win.”
Whether it’s good for the sport or not remains open to individual interpretation.
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