083: Chris Bolletino

At just 26 years old, Chris Bolletino is taking over the wrestling program he once competed for.

The Haddonfield alum is the new head wrestling coach at Haddonfield High School — making him one of the youngest head coaches in New Jersey wrestling.

But Bolletino isn't walking into the job without experience.

He grew up wrestling in South Jersey, trained under coaches including Johnny Johnson and Mark Grey, became a three-time NJ State qualifier at Haddonfield, wrestled Division I at Franklin & Marshall, and spent last season coaching at Ramapo.

Now he's coming home.

🤼 Guest: Chris Bolletino

🏫 Haddonfield Memorial High School

🎓 Haddonfield Alum

🤼 Franklin & Marshall Wrestling

📣 Head Wrestling Coach — Haddonfield

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00:00 The Godfather of MMA

01:06 Meet Haddonfield’s New Head Coach Chris Bolletino

01:53 Becoming a Head Coach at 26

03:04 Building His Coaching Staff

04:21 Choosing Wrestling Over Football

05:02 His Haddonfield Wrestling Career

05:27 Wrestling at Franklin & Marshall

05:40 Learning From Mark Grey & Johnny Johnson

06:08 His Vision for Haddonfield Wrestling

07:18 Building Mental Toughness

08:03 Wrestling Tougher Competition

09:14 Training vs. Competing

10:11 Why the Number of Weigh-Ins Matters

11:40 The Shortened NJ Wrestling Season

13:00 Haddonfield’s Legendary Wrestling Gyms

14:59 Coaching at Ramapo

16:51 Can a 26-Year-Old Connect Better With Wrestlers?

18:02 What Older Coaches Can Still Teach Young Coaches

19:02 The Biggest Challenge of Coaching at 26

20:52 Why Multi-Sport Athletes Still Matter

21:36 Building Haddonfield Wrestling From the Youth Level

22:26 Is Haddonfield a Wrestling Town?

22:56 Understanding NJ Wrestling Power Points

23:35 What Happened to the Old District Rivalries?

25:21 Why Coaches Need to Understand the Rulebook

27:26 Wrestling’s Most Confusing Rules

28:17 Should Head Coaches Have to Pass a Referee Test?

30:14 Greatest NJ High School Wrestler Ever?

30:59 New Jersey Mat Chat Outro