Pedalino Back in the (High School) Game

Long before he became one of Toms River’s foremost figures on developmental side of the wrestling scene and long before his own wrestling days were behind him, former Toms River East standout athlete Vinny Pedalino helped shape the wrestling tradition by molding its now-largest icon.

When Pedalino was a senior, his practice partner was a talented sophomore with the potential to win even more than Pedalino, who was on his way to winning the NJSIAA Region VI championship and placing third in the state at 112 pounds.  And as it turned out, his pupil would surpass him by winning two Region VI championships at two different weight classes and placing second in the state as a junior in 1999.

While master and pupil would each author a page in Toms River’s wrestling tradition,  Pedalino and his former teammate, Frank Edgar, have done even more since their high school days to further wrestling in their hometown.

Now the UFC Lightweight Champion, Edgar is without question the foremost figure in Toms River wrestling, and while Edgar is “now,” Pedalino is a key part of the future.

“One thing I always tell the kids I’m coaching is before he was ‘Frankie Edgar, UFC Champ’ Frank was the hardest working kid in the gym,” Pedalino said. “So I want our kids to look up to Frankie because of what he’s accomplished, but I want them to understand the amount of work that it took Frank to get to where he’s at and the great thing about it is Frank will come and tell them himself. And that’s a great message to send.”

Pedalino’s commitment to wrestling is not limited by the seasons. With the exception of a few breaks over the course of the year, wrestling never stops and Pedalino never stops coaching. If there is wrestling in Toms River, Pedalino wants to be – and most likely is – there.

While the success of any of his students past and present swells the 32-year-old with pride, no time of the year evokes as many great memories of his own glory days as much as late February and early March – NJSIAA Individual Tournament time.

“Coaching was something I really wanted to get into after college so me and Andy Chencharick, who is a good friend of mine, started getting involved at the youth level,” Pedalino said. “I just felt like I had a lot to offer to those kids. Having wrestled here under coach Warren Reid and then at the college level, I’ve been around the sport my whole life and I wanted to share my experience with the younger generation.”

Now a volunteer assistant at Toms River South, Pedalino and the rest of Indians head coach Ron Laycock’s staff has put their fingerprints on this year’s individual tournament. Four Indians wrestlers won District 24 championships last weekend and three more advanced from the districts and to the Region VI Tournament, which begins on Tuesday at the Poland Spring Arena at Toms River North High School.

Toms River South’s seven region qualifiers tied four other Region VI – Long Branch, Point Pleasant Boro, Brick and Howell – for most in the region.

Seniors Kyle Kenny (152 pounds) and Evan Tarver (215) and sophomores Kevin Corrigan (112) and B.J. Clagon (130) each won district titles. Senior Allan Manzano (125) and juniors Anthony Ravallo (160) and Nick Osborn (171) also placed in the top three at the District 24 Tournament to qualify for the District Tournament on Tuesday.

The individual talent at Toms River South is diverse, both in terms of weight class and grade, but most of the athletes on Toms River South’s roster has one thing in common: they learned their trade from Pedalino. Since graduating from Western Maryland College in 2002, Pedalino has run the Toms River team in the Jersey Shore Junior Wrestling League, which produces a significant portion of the high school talent in Toms River. Having their junior coach around has brought some stability to South sophomores like Clagon and Corrigan as they have made their transition to the high school level, but that doesn’t mean they are resting easy.

“Coach Pedalino is great,” Corrigan said. “He’s been my coach basically my whole life and he’s always pushing me to get better. Having him here has made me and the other guys that he’s coached work even harder because he knows what it takes to get the most out of us.”

“He’s relentless and that rubs off on us,” Kenny said. “He’s not afraid to get in your face if he feels it needs to be done and we need that kind of presence.”

That intensity is what Laycock envisioned when he offered Pedalino an opportunity to coach before the 2009-10 season. Laycock was familiar with Pedalino’s personality, not from his wrestling days, but from his standout soccer days. 

“When Vinny came to me and offered to help out, it was a no-brainer for me,” Laycock said. “I know what kind of competitor he is and that comes out in the way he coaches. Plus he’s had a lot of our guys at the lower levels, so he already knows how to coach them.”

“I’ve known Ronnie for a long time and he’s been unbelievable,” Pedalino said. “As a coach, I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries because one of the biggest things I worried about was stepping on the other coaches’ toes. But Ronnie encourages his assistants to coach and to give as much input as possible, and that makes coaching much easier and improves the team dramatically.”

It may seem that Pedalino is completely entrenched in the wrestling scene, but it is only a small part of his life. He is a full-time Toms River Township Police Officer and has a 1-year old son as well. In fact, Pedalino spends as much time with his old friend Edgar, who also has a young son, on play-dates as he does training or watching a big fight in person.

“Frank and I still talk a lot,” Pedalino said. “We’re both very busy. Obviously, he’s got his career and I’m a police officer and I’ve got the coaching thing going on, but we have two young sons and our families are all friends. Frank’s like me, he’s proud of his roots and this community will always be a part of who we are.”

Judging by the two men overseeing them, there is likely a wealth of wrestling potential in those play-dates and judging by the results of his first nine years as a coach, Pedalino is just the man to develop it.