JOEL SANSONE, right, is pictured receiving the OVAC 2021 Class 4A Coach of the Year award from OVAC Hall of Famer Ron Mauck for whom the OVAC Wrestling Tournament is named. Sansone stepped down from his position as head wrestling coach at St. Clairsville.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – They say that all good things must come to an end at some point. For St. Clairsville head wrestling coach Joel Sansone, the time is now.

After guiding the Red Devils for 13 successful seasons, Sansone submitted his letter of resignation to St. Clairsville-Richland City School District Superintendent Dr. Walt Skaggs on Wednesday, and announced his decision to his team and staff a day later.

“Honestly, I really made the decision around January. I had been thinking about some things here and there. My wife (Cassie) had lost her father and grandmother during this season and that left just her mother,” he explained. “That got us thinking about all the things we wanted to do when wrestling was over.

“For the last 32 years I’ve only had two years without wrestling, my junior and senior years of college, so I just thought it was time,” he said. “Someone once told me there was life after wrestling. I guess I’ll find out if that is true.”

While Sansone has coached at St. Clairsville for the aforementioned 13 seasons, he has taught in the Marshall County school district at John Marshall High School for the same duration.

He will continue to do that but in a different capacity.

“I am going to be the Strength and Conditioning Coach at John Marshall,” he announced. “We are doing that 3-4 days a week after school and we’ve had anywhere from 35-50 kids every day. We have football players getting ready for next season and we have basketball players and wrestlers that just finished their seasons, as well as spring sport athletes that are keeping in shape for their seasons.

“I’m excited about the new position. It’s a lot less weekends and I just wanted to spend more time with my family.”

He said the timing of his announcement was delayed by the success of his final season at the Red Devils helm.

“I was going to announce my decision at the end of the year, but with Caden Stout winning the Division II 150-pound title, I didn’t want anything to take away from his accomplishment and everything he received for it. That’s why I waited a little bit.

“I met with Dr. Skaggs and told him of my plans. I then met with Athletic Director Luke Nelson and did the same before meeting with the team,” Sansone added. “Meeting with the team was the hardest because I sitting there looking at the juniors and wondering what they are thinking. It was a tough decision, but I think it was the right decision.

“I’m at peace with he,” he said of the decision. “I knew coaching wasn’t something I was going to do until I retired from teaching. A new opportunity arose and I accepted it.”

During his tenure at St. Clairsville, which came after a three-year stint at Bishop Donahue, he recorded 100 career dual meet wins and his teams won three of the last four OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 4A Dual Meet titles. They were also OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament Class 4A runnersup four times.

“The 100 wins kind of surprised him, but wasn’t something that he ever thought about,” he admitted. “We were coming back from a tournament last year and assistant coach Dillon Nolte asked me how many wins I had. I told him that was a good question because I never kept track of that. We figured it out and my wife, anonymously, was the one to make it public.”

With Stout’s state championship ranking as his top career moment, close behind was in 2020 when the Red Devils had four wrestlers – Koen Kish, Stout, Reese Skaggs and Derek Witsberger – in the OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament championships. Kish and Skaggs prevailed.

“To see all of these kids grow, not only as wrestlers, but as young men is something I will always remember,” he said. “When I first started I had Dom Prezzia, but there really wasn’t any other standouts. The numbers were good and the kids worked hard, but it wasn’t what I wanted.

“I started taking the kids to tournaments and events out of the area to get different types of competition and I thin it was an eye-opener to the kids in the program. They got to see what others kids from across the tri-state were doing to get to that next level.”

Sansone took over for Jay Michael.

“Those were big shoes to fill,” Sansone admitted. “He was successful at Buckeye Local and St. Clairsville. It was an honor to follow him.”

Sansone, who was a district champion and state qualifier in 2000, spoke highly of his two long-time assistants in Bobby Richmond, who he coached while at Bishop Donahue, and the aforementioned Nolte.

“Bobby and I go back a long way. He came here as a volunteer assistant before being hired on full-time. He’s been loyal to me and the program,” Sansone praised. “Dillon works at Belmont Correctional Center and I don’t know how many tournaments that he has went to with little or no sleep. He would nap in the bus or the van, but he never missed. He was always there.”

Sansone also wanted to thank his parents, Debbie and Gary, for all of their support during his career, as well as his wife who was the team’s scorekeeper throughout his career.

“She only missed two tournaments in 13 years,” he said while shaking his head in honor of her dedication. “She was very loyal, not only to me but the program, as well.”

Skaggs, who hand-picked Sansone to succeed Michael nearly a decade-and-a-half ago, lauded Sansone’s work.

“I first knew Joel as a student-athlete here at St. Clairsville. He has always displayed a high level of professionalism and work ethic in everything he does. Throughout his tenure he has done an outstanding job rebuilding the program. He coached both of my sons and they can’t say enough about the impact he had on their wrestling careers. To say he leaves big shoes to fill would be a tremendous understatement.”