JOLY SAINT NICK

McCracken Middle School’s Nick Joly honored by Wrestling USA as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation.

BY CHRISTOPHER WUENSCH
BLUFFTON TODAY

You can still see the emotion flood Nick Joly’s face when the McCracken Middle School assistant wrestling coach talks about a day several years ago when his son Lincoln told his dad he wanted to wrestle. Joly is a man of many hats. There’s the high profile job recruiting and training CEOs. There’s the crown of club champ at Hampton Hall Golf Club. But, when asked what he does, Joly’s answer is always the same.

“I say I coach wrestling,” the stocky, goateed Joly freely and proudly admits. Lincoln’s desire to hit the mats inspired his father to once again pursue his passion. Before long, Joly found himself alongside head coach Eric Snider teaching on the McCracken mats.

And results seemingly followed faster than a first round pin. In its May 30 issue, Wrestling USA magazine named Joly honorable mention among the publication’s national assistant coaches of the year. According to the magazine -- regarded as the bible of the sport -- only two other coaches throughout the country have had a bigger impact on their programs this year.

With a record amount of wrestlers, McCracken finished a program-best fourth among South Carolina middles school at January’s state meet. Much of that success is attributed to the work of the coaches. “Nick inspires me to be a better coach,” said Snider, an assistant principal at Bluffton High School who nominated Joly for the honor. “I will become a better coach with him beside me. I see what he puts in and what he gives up.”

Joly annually sacrifices more in lost wages to coach (assistant coaches on the middle school level do not receive a stipend) than what Snider paid for his first two cars combined, joked the assistant principal. Joly is no stranger to the mat, having wrestled at Massachusetts’s Ayers High School and in college. Today, his efforts are concentrated on the kids and not just his own — this year Lincoln starred for the Bluffton High School team, while his younger brother Levi did the same for McCracken.

Throughout the season McCracken wrestlers would fight to be among the handful of kids chosen to sleep over the Joly household on nights before a match. Those chosen are usually the ones that struggle to control their weight. Under Joly’s watchful eye, the kids are kept on a strict diet and a regular exercise regimen. The kids almost literally eat up the attention.

“Wrestling is a way of life,” Joly said. “Everything in wrestling you can use in life.” Joly and Snider didn’t stop when the middle school season ended in January. In April, they created the Bluffton Wrestling Club, with the emphasis on developing an elementary program. The idea is, by the time they’re in high school, they’ll already have sound fundamentals. And, thusly, Bluffton will remain a perennial powerhouse. Joly would have it no other way.

“It’s very rewarding when you’re in the supermarket and someone says ‘hey coach, how’s the wrestling team?’”

Contact Sports Editor Christopher Wuensch at 815-0814 or Sports@blufftontoday.com