Michael Blancard thought that he would naturally follow in the footsteps of his father, who was the long-time high school wrestling coach at Addison Trails High School in Illinois.
Blancard was a wrestler at Naperville North High in the same state, then went on to have a nice career as a 141-pounder for the prestigious Lycoming College program in Williamsport, Pa. After graduation, Blancard figured that he would go back home to Illinois and carve out a career as a wrestling coach, much like his dad.
Blancard started on that road, but then, there was a little roadblock – his college sweetheart.
"My girlfriend, who became my wife, wanted to pursue an education in New York, so we moved east," Blancard said.
However, Blancard’s love for wrestling was still a major part of his life.
"I knew I wanted to coach, but I wanted to coach a brand new program, where I could basically start from scratch," Blancard said.
Blancard then sent out faxes and e-mails all over the East Coast. He was trying to make friends wherever he went. Someone mentioned to him that there was an opening for a new wrestling program at Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City.
"Great," Blancard said. "It was just what I was looking for."
There was only one problem. Where was Jersey City, and what was Hudson Catholic?
"I was not acclimated to the area, and I had no clue about the school," Blancard said. "But I was intrigued."
The administration at Hudson Catholic had decided to bring back wrestling as a varsity sport after discontinuing it almost 20 years ago. While other schools throughout New Jersey have been dropping wrestling as a sport because of dwindling population, Hudson Catholic was one of three Hudson County schools to initiate the sport this year, joining Emerson and Union Hill.
Blancard interviewed for the position and was subsequently hired. It was a part-time position, strictly coaching. Blancard is going to school full-time at New York University to pursue his Master’s degree in psychology. So the opportunity at Hudson Catholic was exactly what Blancard was looking for.
Or was it?
First of all, the school had no wrestling equipment – no headgear, no shoes, no uniforms, even no mats.
"I knew that the school had limited funds," Blancard said. "But lucky enough, I was introduced to Bill Crum (the former St. Peter’s Prep head coach who now works for USA Wrestling). He was able to find us some mats to use from Montclair State. He’s also helped to fund some of the program."
Blancard had no idea what to expect when he first met the students, all of whom were foreign to high school wrestling.
"Well, we had a preliminary meeting and none of the kids that were interested had any wrestling experience," Blancard said. "They had no idea what to expect. Half of them thought wrestling was the WWF [professional wrestling]. So when we had the second meeting, I gave them a heads-up, what to expect. We started with the most basic things."
Blancard gave the prospective Hawk wrestlers a how-to instruction pamphlet, filled with moves, rules and the fundamentals of the sport.
"We went over some of the terms, the semantics," Blancard said. "We went over the different facets of the sport, a general overview, just so they understood everything, before they even stepped on the mat."
Blancard then had the 24 or so interested athletes to go through three weeks of conditioning before they even began to put the moves they learned to proper use.
Once the practices began, Blancard was mesmerized.
"It was brutal," Blancard said. "The first exposure was unbelievable."
Lucky for Blancard, he was blessed with a good coaching staff. He recruited his former Lycoming teammate, Dominic Nicolicchia, a Hopatcong native, to join his staff. Will Cordoba, a former Kearny High School standout, was also brought in as an assistant, which means that Will’s younger brother, Dave, a state champion at Kearny three years ago, is also working out with the Hawks.
"I’m very blessed to have the support that I have, from the administration, from the parents and from the coaches," Blancard said. "They’re all organized, reliable and all bring something different to the table. Each one has a unique gift as a coach."
The Hawk wrestlers have been showing promise from the outset. While they have yet to win a dual meet as a team, there have been some individuals who are getting the knack of the sport.
Freshman 125-pounder Michael Loureiro has displayed the most promise.
"I’m really excited about this kid," Blancard said. "He’s naturally gifted. He comes in every day and works so hard."
Sam Johnson, a 140-pound freshman, is another promising grappler.
"He’s a very strong kid who’s doing very well," Blancard said of Johnson.
The Salinari twins, juniors Joe and Darren, have joined the wrestling team after a successful football campaign. The brothers share the heavyweight duties for the Hawks.
Blancard has also been enthused by the performances of 103-pound freshman Keevan Walton, 160-pounder Joe Nickerson, 171-pounder Frank Tamargo and 215-pounder Nick Lucci.
"I’m so excited about this team, because the kids have so much promise," Blancard said. "All they need is time. They’re all picking up quicker than I thought they would. It was a big concern for me when I started, because I was never used to anything like this. But we’re moving forward, and that’s good to see."