From Wrestling to Networking
A reflection on the late JCU head wrestling coach Tony DeCarlo, the transition to Kerry Volkmann, and impact today with Mike Collica ’89.
​
By Ai-Chin Chen
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – April 19, 2018: It was only last night when I got a phone call about the passing of former JCU head wrestling coach Tony DeCarlo.
Within previous weeks of searching through the university archives, my objective was to find as much information and relevant media coverage about DeCarlo. Part-time archivist Laurene DiCillo ’87 compiled photos and articles from wrestling, football, and alumni relations to send to the DeCarlo family prior to his passing. I found it mutually beneficial to connect with alumni and relatives of DeCarlo to put together a feature video on DeCarlo’s life and legacy.
Unfortunately, as Chris Wenzler ’90 of JCU Sports Information told me, all athletics relied on outside photographers and local coverage until the early ’90s, which was after DeCarlo retired from coaching wrestling but before becoming JCU’s head football coach in 1987 and Athletics Director in 1986. Finding B-roll on DeCarlo from wrestling or football would be near-impossible given the limited VHS tapes that would need to transfer to DVD and the time to do so.
​
However, I had contact with a JCU alum who wrestled under DeCarlo. Enter Mike Collica ’89, an English major turned realtor and wrestling coach. Scoring 101 wins in his college career, he was an All-American Wrestler in 1989 and qualified three times for the NCAA D-III national tournaments. He coached Solon High School’s Varsity Wrestling for 25 years, coaching both current JCU head wrestling coach Mark Hawald ’05 and myself.
He’s also the proud father of Anthony (Oklahoma State University '17) and Maria Collica (Butler University '18). Anthony became a three-time OHSAA D-I State Champion during high school and four-time national qualifier in college. Maria played soccer from childhood until breaking her ACL early this season.
​
In a chance meeting with Collica the Monday before DeCarlo’s passing, I videorecorded an interview in the Alumni Lounge of Rodman Hall on campus. Here are some of Collica’s remarks looking back at DeCarlo on and off the mats with his legacy.
Chen: What was DeCarlo’s coaching style like? What were some of his notable traits as he acted as a coach, and maybe as a person in general too? What can you tell me about him?
Collica: Basically, the thing I remember most about Coach DeCarlo is that he ran his practices the same way, he was very stern... He would come to practice every day with his wrestling warmups – he had his wrestling pants on, wrestling shirt – and we would start practice by going upstairs to the swimming pool and running around it for a half hour.
We’d come back to the wrestling room, drill, we’d do live wrestling and then he would end every practice with calisthenics and actually jumping rope. We’d do a fifteen to thirty-minute workout with the jump ropes and various different tricks and stuff to help us with our quickness in wrestling.
​
As far as Coach DeCarlo goes as a person, he was a very straightforward person, he was a very accessible person. He treated everyone as if they were his kids; everyone looked up to him as a father figure – even the alumni, when they’d come back to the wrestling matches
looked up to him as a father figure – and he ran his practices as if every kid in the wrestling room was his kid. And if you ever had any issues with him, his office door was always accessible.
​
Chen: Let’s talk a little more about DeCarlo and some of his habits, notable quotes if he had any. And maybe his impact on the community.
Collica: As far as his quotes go, I don’t remember him being a quotable person, but I do remember he had a real deep voice and he was really stern when he ran wrestling practices; he was straightforward with you.
But his relationship with the community is what sticks out the most to me in that when we had wrestling matches, we had alumni support come watch us, the business community would come watch us, and no matter where we went across the country, when we had dual meets or tournaments... he had friends everywhere. We had trips to Florida, we had trips to California. In fact, my sophomore year, we had a trip to Hawaii, and he had a handful of friends out in Hawaii that came to watch us wrestle and cheer us on.
​
But his relationships in the business community in Northeast Ohio was unbelievable.
​
Chen: Can we talk about some of those relationships too while we’re at it? What were some of those companies? Were they athletic sponsors?
​
Collica: The way John Carroll worked when he recruited me was he promised my parents that 1) I would graduate and get an education, 2) that I would have an opportunity to wrestle on the D-III level, but more importantly that when I graduate that I would have a relationship with all the alumni support that graduated from John Carroll that actually, literally started companies or had business, [those] that were vice-presidents of companies in Northeast Ohio. Case in point was that every time I came to a John Carroll alumni event, where I already graduated, I would bump into Coach DeCarlo and he would always throw out a name or a person to say “Hey, I heard that this person is running a company.”
Let me backtrack. I actually sold corrugated boxes, packaging in Northeast Ohio when I graduated from John Carroll. And Coach DeCarlo actually introduced me to a man named Jack Kahl who owned Manco Tapes on the West Side of Cleveland. He told me that I should give [Kahl] a call. I set up a meeting with him, and not only was Jack Kahl waiting for me to meet with his purchasing regime or vice-presidency, but he also attended the meeting and gave me all the business that he had at Manco Tapes. Basically, he catapulted my business career here in Northeast Ohio.
Chen: What other things did you learn from DeCarlo that translated into the business world, the professional development, ultimately to your development as a coach?
Collica: Coach DeCarlo was pretty much like a father figure to me. I went to school with his two kids, Patty and Tony. I actually wrestled with Tony and Patty’s a good friend of mine – she was the statistician. But Coach DeCarlo taught me how to be a good parent – I watched the way he raised his kids. He spent time with kids on the wrestling team, but he basically taught me how to be a good parent, how to be straightforward. He taught me how to coach – I’ve been coaching wrestling for 25 years at Solon High School – and he basically taught me that when you’re coaching kids, you need to be positive and straightforward, honest with them. Always have an open-door policy with them, that if they have any issues with them because they are kids just growing up, to be able to come to you to talk to you.
And then he also taught me the biggest thing, which was how to network. When I say network, when we went to events in Florida, in California, he always had a support group there for us who would take us to dinner, that would actually go to the tournaments and cheer us on... But he basically taught me that any person that graduates from John Carroll University is pretty much your family, and when he introduced me to Jack Kahl, who opened his arms to me and catapulted my business career, I basically had a confidence in me that if I knew someone who graduated from John Carroll or wrestled from John Carroll that had an open door into that business. Literally I sold packaging for 25 years, have since retired, and I’m doing very well.
Chen: Let’s talk about your best memories with him, either in wrestling or outside in general.
Collica: Every year, we planned a trip; every year, we went to Florida for training. When we made these trips, he always made an attempt for the alumni to talk to us; they’d help us with fundraising for the trip, they’d help us when we got to Florida, Hawaii and California, they’d always make the trip memorable. He was always bringing people in to network and to help us out, let us know that hey, we’re part of a family – we’re a part of the John Carroll family.
Chen: If you had to guess, what word or phrase would best describe Coach DeCarlo?
​
Collica: To me, Coach DeCarlo was “Mister John Carroll.” When I came to John Carroll, the football team was terrible; the baseball and basketball teams were average, but everyone knew John Carroll for the wrestling program. That’s the reason I came here, because they had such a good wrestling program. No matter where we went to across the country, everyone knew John Carroll because of the wrestling team. They were national champions in [1975], in the ’80s I believe they were placed in the top four every year throughout the ’80s, and I believe that was because of Coach DeCarlo; he actually put John Carroll on the map. All the businesses that I used to call on in the business world knew Coach DeCarlo; they’ve heard of John Carroll, everyone knew what a reputable education they had over here, and I think it was because of Coach DeCarlo’s relationships in the business community here in Northeast Ohio.
And I say “Mister John Carroll” because when he transitioned onto the football scene, John Carroll’s football program took off and became a national presence, and everyone knew John Carroll because of him. I believe they placed top third or fourth in the country in football when he transitioned over to it.
Chen: Any remarks on information we haven’t covered?
​
Collica: One of the biggest things is the transition from Coach DeCarlo to Coach [Kerry] Volkmann. I remember before they brought in Coach Volkmann that Coach DeCarlo called me and Pete Hayek – we were the post-graduating seniors at John Carroll. He called us personally into his office to let us know that he handpicked the new wrestling coach and that he personally knew him, that [Volkmann]’s a perfect fit for the program and for us to support him and help the transition from DeCarlo to Volkmann.
He made us the captains of the team that following year to make sure the kids would listen to us, that they would accept the new coach, and I think the transition period that he allowed to happen made Coach Volkmann the coach he is up to this day.
​
Chen: How really was the transition period? What were some of the obstacles or smoothness?
​
Collica: I think with Coach DeCarlo that letting us know he blessed the new coach, that he personally picked [Volkmann] for the job, that made the transition a lot easier because we know that [Volkmann] wrestled for Coach DeCarlo.
​
He knew about how the John Carroll family worked, how wrestling worked here... So transitioning was getting the new recruits just to buy into the new coach and the new program, but it’s typical for a new freshman coming into a new college – they’re going to have to buy into a new program anyway, no matter who’s going to be there as head coach, but Coach DeCarlo handpicked us as captains to make that transition a lot easier and I think that it went very well.
Chen: Then what were some of the notable differences between DeCarlo and Volkmann? Was it their coaching styles? Notable traits that maybe we don’t know about?
Collica: The biggest thing was their traits. Coach DeCarlo ran his team with an iron fist, just with his deep voice. He would say something, and the kids would jump through hoops just to do it. He was very stern, and you know that when he wanted you to run and sprint, you did sprints.
Coach Volkmann was more laid-back; he let you figure out a style that fit you and figure out a wrestling regiment that would help you. When nationals came in, Volkmann then kicked it into gear and took over, but throughout the season, Volkmann was a little more laid-back.
​
They both had an open-door policy, they both communicated with the kids very well, but for the most part, Volkmann was trained by DeCarlo so there weren’t as many hurdles in the road as you would think.
​
Chen: With both of them retired now, DeCarlo in 1987 and Volkmann in 2015, what do you think is the legacy left behind for JCU Wrestling?
​
Collica: I think we’re heading in the right direction. I actually coached Mark Hawald [Jr.], the new wrestling coach, in high school. I grew up with his father, he came into practice with us, so I know his dad as well. I actually know the grad assistant, George DiCamillo. I think the program’s heading in the right direction, that they’re going to do very well, and that the alumni are coming back; they’re excited to see what’s going to be of John Carroll Wrestling, and I think they’re heading in the right direction.
And the most fortunate part for me is that I get to see all this happen with the university archives. Alongside myself, many others now get to see the legacy that JCU Wrestling will leave with the community, starting with Tony DeCarlo’s life impact and continuing on.
​
For now, it is a time of mourning and honoring the man who put JCU on the map, and ultimately a family man who lived out being a man for others, just as the university’s motto stands today.