Iona Prep wrestling coach Tom Straehle gets his 300th win

Achieving 300 dual meet wins includes a lot of years, a lot of wrestlers and a lot of hard work.

Iona Prep wrestling coach Tom Straehle achieved that milestone on Dec. 17 when Iona Prep defeated Fordham Prep 55-22 at home.

"Lots of years, a lot of kids, a lot of good wrestlers, especially the last seven or eight years," said Straehle, a retired New Rochelle police officer who started Iona Prep's wrestling program in 2006. "A lot of the kids you meet, you see them later on in life, have them come back and give back to the program. Donations if we need them, coming to alumni practice over Thanksgiving, camps over the summer. They help tutor the kids.

"A lot of these guys come back down and they're married and they have kids and that's nice."

The tale of Iona Prep wrestling is unique. It was a dormant program - there was some club wrestling in past generations - but Straehle, along with assistant coaches Eric Fama, Nick Cipriano and John Degl - transformed the Gaels into a team always in contention for CHSAA state titles and NYSPHSAA state titles.

"That was kind of our turning point," Straehle said of Degl, who runs Empire Wrestling Academy in Somers, coming on board. "We had kids from his club that wanted to go to Iona Prep."

Colin Realbuto won a CHSAA state title in 2018 and placed third at NYSPHSAA. Matt Kelly and A.J. Kovacs got things going further in 2020, winning at both tournaments. Since then, Gaels have been regulars on medal podiums.

This season, wrestlers like George Johnson, Fotis Koufalis, Ralphie Rodriguez, Dorian Hidalgo and Shane Degl are threats to win or place in any tournament they compete in.

"Personally, I think the guy's a machine. He's like a cyborg," John Degl said of Straehle, noting his organizational skills and knowing small details of entering tournament meet results into databases, weight certification, and scheduling matches for both his starters and backups. "He's relentless. That's my tagline for Empire Wrestling, but he's actually relentless. The guy does everything when you're supposed to and doesn't put things off."

That helps the Iona Prep program. John Degl said the way Straehle works with people is key to his success as a coach.

"He's a great role model for kids. He's a consummate professional," John Degl said. "Coaches have to wear many hats. He allows me and Coach Fama to have cushy jobs - we coach wrestling. That's what we do and we like to do it. The other stuff, which is why it's hard to get quality head coaches, is you've got to be part lawyer, part babysitter, part parent, part counselor.

"You have to have really good balance and you have to treat kids differently," John Degl said. "He's excellent at that. He knows which kids he needs to push hard and hold accountable. He knows which kids he's got to bring along slower and be a little more flexible with."

Prior to starting Iona Prep's program, Straehle coached at his alma mater, Blessed Sacrament in New Rochelle, in 1994 before coaching at Mount St. Michael in the Bronx from 1995 to 2005. He taught a criminalistics class at Iona Prep and is now the school's head of security.

Phil Strum is local sports editor for The Journal News/lohud.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Iona Prep wrestling coach Tom Straehle gets his 300th win