Joe Zaccagnini grew up wanting to wrestle because his older brother, and his sibling’s group of friends, were doing it. His first foray into the sport took place within the Reisterstown recreational program, when Zaccagnini was 7 or 8 years old.
Life lessons came along with learning the sport, Zaccagnini recalled, and after a junior league career he competed at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson. During college, Zaccagnini returned to Calvert Hall to help out as a volunteer coach during winter break.
He spent eight years as an assistant wrestling coach at Catonsville High (2013-18)
Now an educator and coach in Carroll, Zaccagnini teaches math at West Middle School and coaches varsity wrestling at Liberty High School, where he’s the lone new wrestling coach in the county this winter. The Times recently caught up with Zaccagnini to talk about his wrestling upbringing, taking over a varsity program in Carroll, and how rich the wrestling tradition is in this county.
Q: What has this past month been like within your wresting program as Carroll embarked on a winter sports season?
A: This month has felt very rushed. Although I am extremely happy to have a wrestling season, with the season being so short it feels as if everything has been condensed. We ran through a lot of our technique a lot faster than we normally would and we didn’t go as detailed as we would have done in years past. For our coaching staff, it felt most important to keep things simple this year and get our guys wrestling as much as possible because normally you would have weeks and even months to get our athletes physically acclimated to a full wrestling season. This time around it felt like we had our first practice and then the next thing we knew, we were getting ready for the first match.
Q: Can you explain what’s different during the pandemic during a daily wrestling practice?
A: I think the biggest difference is the way we run practices. To help reduce close contacts we typically have our wrestlers work with the same guys every practice. It makes it easier if an athlete is feeling unwell to look back and see who they have practiced with for the past few days. We do occasionally switch up partners when guys are absent or have injuries, but most of the team is working with same guys every day. That’s really difficult for doing live matches because you want to change up partners so your athletes can wrestle someone with a different wrestling style or different body type. We have also had to split the team into two practice groups which makes it difficult to truly bond as a team. Especially for the new guys in the program, they got to the first dual [meet] of the year and didn’t really know the whole team yet. The disinfecting and cleaning of mats has always been a part of wrestling so that hasn’t really changed for us, besides we are cleaning more often, we clean the mats before, in between and after each practice.
Q: How have the athletes handled these past four weeks knowing that each match they wrestle could be the last of the season?
A: I would say most of the guys are glad to be wrestling. I know I am glad to be coaching, and on a weekly basis make sure to mention how lucky they are to have this opportunity. I think a lot of the guys have taken that to heart and I have reminded them to not take these times for granted. I mentioned to my seniors to think about how they would feel if they had been told “Hey, you can’t wrestle this year,” that would be completely heartbreaking. I was lucky enough to not have any major injuries in high school that cost me time in athletics. I did split my chin during my senior year and had to get stitches, which resulted in me missing a few weeks of practice and two dual meets. That time was the worst few weeks during my senior year.
Q: How have you seen the sport change over the years since you were first introduced to it?
A: The sport has changed so much in the time since I first starting wrestling. I think with many other sports, the internet and online websites like Flowrestling have revolutionized the wrestling world. It’s so easy nowadays to find technique videos and articles to help develop wrestling skills. I have bought several coaching and technique DVDs to help better myself as a coach. Also not to mention the ability to link with coaches from across the nation in online forums or coaches’ conventions has made the sport more wide spread. Obviously, there will always be the need for the wrestling basics, but kids can go online now a days and learn a new move, work on it in practice and eventually put into practice in a match.
Q: Carroll’s wrestling tradition is rich, but is there anything tangible that makes the county so tough?
A: I think what makes the county so tough is the history in wrestling for Carroll County. Growing up as a kid I remember hearing about the battles between North [Carroll] and South Carroll. I remember being in high school and reading about the dominance of Winters Mill in early 2000s. A lot of those coaches, wrestlers and fans are involved in the wrestling community in Carroll County today. We as a county have a lot of great junior league teams, club teams and high school teams. At every level you find coaches and athletes who have a love and passion for the sport of wrestling. I think that is the main reason why Carroll County is so tough. The wrestling community is involved, they are dedicated, and willing to put in the work to make wrestling happen amid a global pandemic.