New JJC wrestling coach to lead women’s team as well as men’s

Joliet — The Joliet Junior College athletics department has announced the hiring of a new wrestling coach who will, for the first time, lead both the men’s team and a newly formed women’s team.

Gary Woods II officially started in the role of head coach for both teams Sept. 25 and was introduced to returning team members the following day.

Woods previously served as the head coach for the boys and girls wrestling teams at Mountainview High School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, where during the 2022-23 season he led the boys team to a Virginia Class 5 state title and expanded the girls program to become the second largest team in the state.

Throughout his five years as a head coach, Woods had a total record of 61-27 for his girls and boys teams, and he coached two Fargo All-Americans, four National High School Coaches Association placers, three state champions and 12 state finalists.

“I am looking forward to joining the JJC coaching staff and building a program that goes beyond the mat,” Woods said in a statement issued by the college. “My goal is to build a wrestling family that excels in the classroom, supports our community and strives for excellence in all aspects of life.”

Men’s wrestling has been competing at JJC for five years, and the school announced the creation of the women’s team in April, which caused some controversy.

The men’s team previously was led by head coach Dan Catarello and assistant coach Nick Nasenbeny, but both men left the team after the announcement that a women’s team would be added to the same program as the men’s with the same coaching staff.

Both Catarello and Nasenbeny appeared at a Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees meeting Sept. 13 with several student wrestlers to express concerns about the decision and the then-ongoing vacancy in the head coach position.

Both former coaches said they did not have the time or energy to commit to coaching both teams and suggested that either entirely separate staffs or at least a larger assistant coaching staff would be needed to ensure both teams received the resources they require.

“It’s not feasible for just two coaches to handle two entirely different sports,” Nasenbeny said. “Over half the moves you see in women’s wrestling are illegal in men’s, so having practice at the same time wouldn’t mesh well.

“The rules are different, the match lengths are different, and the scoring is different. You need to train differently to practice different muscle groups for different types of moves, so the coaching staff is going to have to stay later to develop different practice plans with no additional help or increase in pay.”

Similarly, Catarello argued that the joint team will be unfair to the student-athletes since coaches would be unable to pay adequate attention to either team.

“Because women’s wrestling is so popular, it should be done well,” Catarello said. “There are nuances to women’s wrestling. It wouldn’t be equitable to have one coach and one assistant coach for both groups.”

Although the board did not address the former coaches’ comments directly, JJC athletic director Gregg Braun said the concerns were considered and appreciated.

“We are confident in our approach and are excited to grow the athletics program in a new direction,” Braun said.

As to the former coaches’ observation that uniforms already should have been ordered and athletes should have started training in September for weigh-ins, Braun acknowledged in a Sept. 21 email that “ideally, we would have liked to have had someone in place by now, but taking the time to find the right candidate was important to us. We conducted an extensive search to find a candidate with the skill set we were looking for, and we’re excited that we’ve found a great candidate.”

With Woods officially in place before the season kicks off Oct. 1, it’s still unclear how large the assistant coaching staff for the new combined program will be.

Braun noted on Sept. 27 that there still will be a hired assistant coach and some additional volunteer assistants, as the men’s team previously had, but that “the head coach will have the ability to hire his own assistant coaches.” He also said the school would “evaluate the program as we move forward” to determine how large the coaching staff will be as the program builds.

“Coach Woods’ experience coaching both men and women’s wrestling in the same program is what JJC needs to begin this new chapter in Wolves wrestling history,” Braun said in a statement. “That experience, plus his contagious passion for the sport, is the right energy to get the season started.”

In its original announcement of the JJC women’s wrestling program, the school said the sport is one of the fastest-growing school sports in the country at the high school and college level, with 31,000 student-athletes participating in the sport in 2022, and 256 women’s and girls teams competing in Illinois in 2023.

Despite the somewhat delayed start to the season at JJC, Braun said there has been “great interest” from female students in the new sport.