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    Ex-Baker coach Di Pol takes helm at Bishop Heelan

    Pete Di Pol, legendary New Jersey prep wrestling coach who most recently headed up the mat program at Baker University in Kansas, is about to take the helm at Bishop Heelen High School in Sioux City, Iowa, the Sioux City Journal reported Saturday.

    Pete Di Pol
    Di Pol had been head wrestling coach at Baker for two seasons, replacing Jimmy May, the coach who launched the program at the Baldwin City, Kan. school six years ago. Under Di Pol, Baker crowned its first individual national champion in program history when Bryce Shoemaker won the 133-pound title at the 2014 NAIA national wrestling championships. Immediately before coming to Baker in 2013, Di Pol had been head coach at Gloucester Community College in New Jersey since 2011.

    Prior to coaching at Gloucester, Di Pol made a name for himself as a high school wrestling coach in New Jersey, heading up nationally-recognized programs at Camden Catholic High and Haddonfield High, among others. Di Pol's teams won three state titles. He was also a standout wrestler at Paulsboro High School in New Jersey in the 1990s.

    Di Pol is returning to his high school wrestling roots ... and is up for the challenge of transforming the Bishop Heelan program that has struggled in recent years, failing to send a wrestler to last season's Iowa state championships.

    "The wrestling culture is you don't take any easy roads or paths," Di Pol told the Journal. "I am always looking to challenge and push myself. People don't know me here so I kind of have to prove myself there. I am looking to push myself and my wrestlers to be the best we can all be."

    "I am really impressed with the work ethic of the kids and the commitment," Di Pol added. "When I was still the coach at Baker (University) and knew I was probably going to take this job I had 20 to 25 kids from Heelan come down to Kansas for the camp."

    In addition to being head wrestling coach, Di Pol will also serve as a guidance counselor at Bishop Heelan, a Catholic high school serving grades 9-12 located in Sioux City in western Iowa.
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