Shane Dunn | GardenStateHSWrestling.com | August 19, 2023
Photo Credit: Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advanced Media

This Monday I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing North Hunterdon’s new head wrestling coach Dave Bell. Dave and I had a wide ranging and colorful conversation, spanning from his departure from Bergen Catholic all the way to where he could see wrestling being fifteen years from now. I made the drive up to a Starbucks in Bergen County to meet up with Dave and got to pick his brain for close to a half an hour on his upcoming season with his new school. 

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I am here with the newest coach of the North Hunterdon Lions Dave Bell who had an illustrious 25-year career with Bergen Catholic, winning eleven state championships along the way and producing 90 state place winners in his career. Thank you for joining me this morning Dave.

“My pleasure.”

Let’s talk a little bit about your departure from Bergen Catholic. The night before districts in February you gave your resignation, guide me a little bit into that decision.

“Sure. There were some internal conflicts within the program, and I felt that at that point it wasn’t doing the program any good, it wasn’t good for any of us or anyone involved. Bergen Catholic was my life for 25 years, 24 hours a day. To make that decision it had to be a serious issue for me. I discussed it with my wife and I decided it was for the best for my family and the program. We had gotten the kids up to that point, the individuals, they had other great coaches to work with. It was the best decision for everyone involved.”

I think a general question among many fans not just in Hunterdon County, but most of the state, is why did you choose North Hunterdon?

“When I left Bergen Catholic I wasn’t sure what my future would be. I wasn’t sure if I’d coach again. After I started to decompress and get my thoughts together I realized that I really can’t go without coaching, so I started exploring options. One morning Chris Hrunka, who had just resigned, sent out a general email to everyone saying he resigned and the position was open. The teaching position that was open was a Social Studies teacher, so I answered. He answered me immediately, things happened pretty quick. Their administration got back to me and we started going through the interview process. I had to speak to my wife about it and us relocating to Hunterdon County, at first she didn’t resist, and then everything seemed like we let fate take its course and things started to fall into place. I’m excited about it after meeting the people down there. Being from North Hunterdon, do you know Mr. Flynn?”

Absolutely.

“He was really enthusiastic and I realized he was a wrestling coach and a Phillipsburg guy. Then the more people I spoke with and the involvement with all the people down there was almost unparalleled. It was a night and day scenario from where I was coming from believe it or not. It was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of people are wrestling people. I met Ricky Frondorf the other night, he is enthusiastic, Steve Karpinski from Phillipsburg as well, there’s 160-165 kids in the rec program. I think it’s a sleeping giant, it’ll be fun and it’s a great departure.”

You’ve said in past interviews that you view this as a challenge and that you’re very excited to get to work, and you say it’s invigorating for you. I want to know what made you jump back into it as quickly as you did as well as your love overall for the sport.

“For years my energy was down, my enthusiasm and passion was waning. With the departure and given time to think I started getting excited about it. I’m looking forward to getting back into coaching. Once I started speaking to people and it was almost like a dark cloud lifted. The opportunity to coach and to build a program is exciting. Being at the top is great, you’re always looking over your shoulder, I’m not going to say winning isn’t fun and being at the top isn’t fun, but building that anticipation and turning that program around, I’ve done it in the past. Bergen Catholic was a twenty year process, but that was a great experience. The interest and enthusiasm there is great. This is going to be a really great opportunity to coach. When it really all kicked in, I was still in the discretion phase, I wasn’t sure I’d get the interview and didn’t know if they’d hire me. Then I went to Mexico to coach the Pan Am’s, the U17’s, being there coaching again made everything start to break. Coaching and being in Mexico City, this is what I belonged doing and everyone was in support of it and the excitement has been building since then.”

Being closer to the city and in a busier area than before in Bergen, now moving out to cornfields and farms, how do you expect the culture shock and change of scenery?

“Being a history teacher, I always had an affinity to be historical. So moving down there into an older home is nice. I was down at the Warren County Fair this weekend and it’s just a great feeling. I thought eventually over time we would leave this area before this position came up. We were looking to move into maybe Morris County or even Orange County, so we were looking for a change of pace in a slower way. It seems faded and seems great, my wife is on board. It’s almost like a fresh start or a reboot, I think it’s going to be great.”

There’s a lot of fresh starts with this team with a lot of the 2022-2023 starters graduated this past year, what are your first expectations for your first year at North Hunterdon?

“My conversations with the different people that are involved, and they’ve let me know about the current situation, state place finishers graduated and this may be a down time. There is help coming from the rec road in the next 3-4 years. From what I’ve seen, there is talent there. The challenge is great, I told them I wouldn’t accept the idea that we may struggle, in my mind we’re a contender. At Bergen Catholic we had a wide spectrum of talent, we had kids who never wrestled, elite kids and nationally ranked kids. I think the opportunity to train and to coach, it’s not a different perspective, but gives me the chance to do things with guys that are coming in like that with the coaching and fundamentals and the things you need to focus on with wrestlers of that caliber. It’ll be a challenge, but not so much of a challenge on the win-loss side, I just can’t wait to get to learn and start implementing and improving skills.”

You’re walking into the Skyland Conference and you’ll see teams such as Phillipsburg and Hunterdon Central, two teams with huge North rivalries, how do you expect the level of difficulty between them and Bergen Catholic competition?

“It’s not so much comparing apples to oranges when I first got to Bergen Catholic. We couldn’t compete with Phillipsburgs and the public schools with the paradigm shift in the last ten years. It was always the Phillispburg’s or the Hunterdon Central’s or Brick Memorials, they were always the top teams in the state. TIn the non-publics we started out in the top 15 when I started in 1998. I’ve always admired those teams. I would make a pilgrimage to matches at Phillipsburg and Hunterdon Central, Del Val, I’ve admired those programs for a long time. It will be great to compete against them in that forum, hopefully develop ourselves to the point where we are the top team.”

North is a team filled with tradition and pride, what tournaments or traditions are you most excited for in your first season?

“Competing with Phillipsburg, Hunterdon Central and Warren Hills and competing with great programs, I’m looking forward to that. Wrestling in the Phillipsburg gym or going to the field house at Hunterdon Central, we’ll continue to do that. This year I’ll have to take things into account and evaluate where we’re at, but then eventually start branching out and wrestling some Pennsylvania teams, maybe some other teams nationally. Wrestling the level of our program, but introducing that into some different competition.”

You’ve spoken previously about public schools still making waves nationally, is bringing North Hunterdon to a national ranking an end goal of yours with this team?

“Absolutely. With the resources that the state of New Jersey has and putting in the time, not saying it’s something that we just go in and it magically happens. Bergen Catholic took twenty years, but I think there’s no reason why anyone who puts the effort and has the desire can’t be at that level. Logan Wadle, state champ, beat our guy who has been on a national circuit. It happens. I think it can happen a lot more frequently.”

Coming from an all boys school, how important is the women’s program to you?

“Very important. Years back, say 18 years ago, I interviewed to do the Northern Michigan position. It was a farm team for the training center. I was involved, from that point Terry Steiner and I became friends, we still speak. In 2015 or 2016 I coached the senior level of women’s Pan Am. Your Sarah Goldbrant’s, others now on the world team who I keep in contact with. There’s resources to build back, I was going in that direction. Dan Pepe is the head coach of that program, but I think I could be a good asset to him and I think I could bring in a lot of high level people that can really get that girls program going.”

This Summer just finding a new job already had to be hectic, but let’s talk about that experience in Mexico City with the U-17 Pan American Team.

“It was incredible. It was my third trip with USA Wrestling. My preference would be freestyle, it works and I know it better, that’s something else I’m looking to build into the culture of North. We need to get kids out wrestling in Fargo, North East Regions and other tournaments. Two guys that are wrestling in the U-17 World’s today or tomorrow were on that team, to be with those kids was no better experience for a wrestling purist. And the coaches that were on the team, Danny Struck, he’s done things and he just presented at the coaches convention in Florida. Wesley Rocker from Alaska who is a greco national champ, just to be around people in that mindset is different from being around people that are locked into what they’re doing. They see a bigger picture.”

You’re going to become a History teacher for North, it’s a little different from private to public, are you excited to fill this role?

“My first year at Bergen Catholic I only coached there, I taught at another school. For 24 years I taught at Bergen Catholic, I loved every minute of it. The kids were awesome. When I first got into teaching, take it back to when I was in high school. My ambitions were to become a teacher and a coach. More a coach than teacher, but over time teaching has become a bigger part. What you do in a classroom translates to what I tell my athletes, they’re in control of their future. I’m just as excited to teach as I am to coach. My understanding is there is a big academic tradition held at North Hunterdon. I know there’ll be a transitional period between teaching from private to public, but I’ve been teaching for 25 years. I’m not going to say it’ll be easy, but that experience will help a lot and I’m excited for it.”

With wrestling growing rapidly, where could you see wrestling in fifteen years?

“New Jersey has progressed. New Jersey may have been the first state to start with the clubs. The level of wrestling in New Jersey has increased dramatically, we’ve always been a good wrestling state. I think with clubs and the opportunities and what it’s done over the years is the positive. The downside is with areas like Bergen there, is the elite kid and the new kid and not much middle ground. In districts we were facing teams where we’d have a huge discrepancy. In one sense my concern is wrestling will lose restrictions like other sports have. Bergen Catholic had great hockey and soccer players who only played for clubs because they didn’t need their high school team. The fear is we’re going to be held to restrictions where kids go off and only wrestle for club teams. For colleges wrestling is a sport where you place at Fargo or are on a 16-17 year old world team, they’re not looking at your high school career. There is a concern wrestling can go that way and become less a team sport and more an individual sport. Being in this area with Saint Joes, Bergen Catholic, Del Barton, Saint Peters, Paramus Catholic, they had a good run for a while and are building again. The kids are going to clubs and training with clubs. In Bergen County there’s probably close to sixty schools. You saw that differential in talent and now you’re seeing it statewide. Hunterdon County is a different animal. Once it was announced I got the job, Central and Warren Hills’ coaches reached out. I’ve known Mr. Fitz since I was in high school. Everyone was welcoming, North Hunterdon has a cooperative going on where they train together. The North Hunterdon open mats have a lot of schools coming. Some of the individuals are trying to build a regional training center where all the kids could train together. There’s more of a team aspect to it. I think high school and the guys I’ve met down there have done a great job with keeping their kids in programs.”

I think myself and others are very excited to see you put on the green and gold this season, I wish you a lot of luck and I hope to see you regularly this season. I want to thank you again for taking the time to sit down with me for the interview.

“Thank you for coming all the way up here!”

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Coach Bell went on to invite me to sit in on a practice later in the season afterwards and was nothing but genuine and classy throughout the entire interview. In what looked like a tough position for North Hunterdon losing their coach, Dave Bell may be the answer and only time will tell, but his attitude is certainly in the right spot.