On the sports landscape, whether it is high school, collegiate or professional, it is rare to span a half century with just two people running any particular program.

Consider the professional football team in our nation's capital. In the last 50 years, Washington has made 16 changes in the head coaching position. Former Blue Streak All-American London Fletcher spent eight seasons there and played for three different head coaches.

 

John Carroll wrestling has had two head coaches in 50 seasons.

Tony DeCarlo founded the program in 1964 and held the job as head coach until 1987. Kerry Volkmann took over in 1987, and will run the program until the end of this season.

On September 11, 2014, Volkmann announced that his 28th season will be his last.

The two men who have helmed the Blue Streak wrestling program since its inception are forever entwined. DeCarlo coached Volkmann when the latter was an undergraduate, and then tabbed his former captain as his successor.

But the transition between the two giant figures in John Carroll wrestling almost did not happen.

"When he first approached me, I turned him down," admits Volkmann. "I had left a coaching position at Lake Catholic High School in 1985 in search of something different. I had gotten all I could out of coaching at the secondary education level, and I was seeking different challenges."

DeCarlo did not have to walk far to make the offer as Volkmann at the time was the Director of Alumni Funding at John Carroll University.

"It was an enjoyable two years, and I forever am grateful that Paul Kantz gave me that opportunity," said Volkmann. "I learned so much and really felt I was hitting my stride at the time, and was perfectly content to keep on that track."

Volkmann found out that news travelled fast. Soon after making his initial decision, he got a visit from a friend who made him think twice.

Bob Spicer, a JCU Hall of Fame football player, was a good friend of Volkmann's as the two had spent time as assistant coaches on the football staff at Chanel High School. Spicer had called Volkmann and asked him if he was accepting the position DeCarlo was offering. When Spicer heard the answer, he was quick to render advice to the contrary.

"He told me I would be crazy not to take this opportunity," recalled Volkmann. "But what really stuck with me was something he said regarding the possibility of someone else taking the job. As he put it, the next person who runs the John Carroll wrestling program will probably run it for the next 30 years. I think his words were, 'this opportunity may not come around again'."

Spicer was pretty close to being spot on. After a week of sleepless nights mulling his choice, Volkmann realized the lure of coaching was too strong not to follow.

For the next 28 years, the once reluctant development officer would build his own legacy despite the rather large shadow cast by his predecessor.

Not anyone would be willing to step into the footsteps of the man who still holds the distinction of coaching the only national championship team in school history, yet Volkmann took on the challenge.

Two years in, Volkmann and John Carroll University had to host the NCAA Division III national championships, a massive undertaking which encompassed an entire year of planning. Despite being pulled in a thousand directions, that JCU team managed to place fourth in the nation.

 

In just his third season, Volkmann scored one of his most memorable victories when John Carroll topped Cleveland State for the first time.

"It was a magical night," said Volkmann. "It was a great atmosphere, and in the end, was vindication for so many of our guys through the years who had battled toe-to-toe with those guys but had never been able to say we beat them. It meant a great deal to our team and our alums."

Other enormous achievements followed. A national dual meet championship in 1992, five top ten finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships, ten Ohio Athletic Conference titles. As he begins his 28th season, Volkmann stands three wins shy of the magic number of 300.

Volkmann was also on the football sidelines for nearly a quarter of a century, accepting the other part of DeCarlo's offer to help turn the school's football fortunes around. As cornerbacks coach, he was part of three NCAA playoffs (1989, 1997, 2002), the last of which resulted in the school's first regional title and a national semifinals appearance.

He has mentored numerous All-Americans and has racked up coaching awards that tally up in the double digits.

"Honors are nice, and milestones are nice as well," said Volkmann. "But what I place the greatest value in is the student-athletes themselves. The growth they experience as they matriculate through the university, and the success they enjoy following graduation as they strive to find purpose and meaning in their lives beyond John Carroll. I am as proud of what these young men go on to accomplish outside of the sport as anything they ever did on the mat."

Volkmann keeps a list of former Blue Streak wrestlers who have returned to the sport as coaches on his door as a reminder of those who got so much out of the sport that they have chosen to give back in that capacity. He also sees the David Meuse Wrestling Room as a reminder of those who enjoyed their experience specifically as John Carroll wrestlers wanting to enrich the experience of those who came after them.

 

We raised nearly half a million dollars in our efforts to build one of the premier wrestling facilities in the country let alone Division III," said Volkmann. "We talk about giving the kids who come through here a positive experience, and the proof of that is the commitment our alumni wrestlers made to this program. It is humbling."

It is this notion of the rewarding experience that drives Volkmann to this day.

"I would hope that anyone who wrestled for me could come up and look me in the eye and be able to say their experience was worthwhile and what they learned still pays off to this day,' said Volkmann.

While Volkmann plans to step away from the coaching ranks, his love of the sport will always remain. He sees storm clouds in the sport that are hard to ignore, but storm clouds have been present throughout his tenure. As programs have disappeared throughout the country as a result of budget cuts and other factors, the sport has survived through the active and vibrant advocacy of its most ardent supporters — former wrestlers.

His concern is that sometimes the sport can be its own worst enemy.

"I think we have issues regarding chasing the dollar in the name of tournaments versus duals," said Volkmann. "Whatever prevailing opinion is out there seems to lean toward these two- and three-day events, but when you see the Big Ten schools pack an arena for a Sunday dual, and the kids are in top notch form, you see what should be the future. Where the sport is healthy, it is very much relevant."

He also fears coaches who prefer a more defensive style and employ stalling tactics also hurt the sport, as it robs fans of excitement.

His biggest fear, however, is the modern-day athlete.

"There are so many distractions and mixed messages out there these days," said Volkmann. "I've been around long enough to see the change. I find it harder and harder to find a dearth of kids who are willing to 'pay the price' so to speak and sacrifice for their sport, especially this sport which requires so much self-discipline and dedication."

Volkmann cannot help but laugh at his own development as an athlete, back in the days when he played football and thought basketball would be his sport at St. Joseph High School on the eastern edge of Cleveland.

That changed when the legendary Bob Straub, who later coached with Mike Moran at John Carroll, made a decision that altered Volkmann's life.

"He cut me," said Volkmann. "Coach Straub may have done me the biggest favor of anyone. I moved toward wrestling and never looked back."

As for the here and now, Volkmann is preparing for his final season on the mat. He feels good about the John Carroll team as a whole with two returning national qualifiers in Dan Mirman and Terner Gott, yet also has concerns about some of his lower weights.

Whatever the final season holds, Volkmann knows in his heart that the time is right to step away.

"My legacy, at least in terms of what is important to me, is the impact I have been able to have on the lives of those I coached," said Volkmann. "Many of the wins and losses I have already forgotten. But I can go out to that All-American board right outside my office and tell a story about every one of the names that is up there. I can also tell you stories of the kids that never started but gave everything they had every day in practice. It was that way in the wrestling room and in football as well. Those are the things I will take away from my time here … I am proud of what I built, and I gave it my best."