St. Clairsville promotes Richmond to head mat coach
ST. CLAIRSVILLE – The torch has been passed from mentor to pupil as far as the St. Clairsville head wrestling coach goes.
It was announced earlier in the week that Bobby Richmond has been promoted to the position after Joel Sansone stepped down after last season, his 13th with the Red Devils mat program.
“We had several applicants for the vacancy created by the retirement of long-time head wrestling coach Joel Sansone. The committee reviewed all submitted packets and ultimately recommended Bobby Richmond,” St. Clairsville-Richland Schools Superintendent Dr. Walt Skaggs said.”During his tenure, Richmond has done an outstanding job, and we believe his time with coach Sansone has more than prepared him for this role.
“In addition, Dillon Nolte, who has served as a volunteer assistant for the last six seasons, will move up to the full-time varsity assistant position, formally held by Richmond,” Skaggs noted.
When Richmond was starting his days at Bishop Donahue High School, Sansone was his head coach.
“We go all the way back to my freshman year when he was my head coach in wrestling and track,” the four-time W.Va. state qualifier and two-time state placer – he was fifth as a junior and fourth as senior – at 160 pounds.
“It’s really exciting. I’m looking forward to keeping this tradition going that Joel has built. We’ve had a myriad of success under Joel’s watch. We won three OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 4A Dual Meet championships,” Richmond continued. “We got a win at Division II state duals and this past season we finally got our first state champion in school history with Caden Stout.”
Along with the success that St. Clairsville has enjoyed under Sansone’s guidance, there is also some pressure involved. However, Richmond isn’t worried.
“There are two ways of looking at it. You can look at it with pressure or you can look at it with expectations,” Richmond advised. “What we hope to do is look at it as expectations. We’re going to come in, work hard and strive to reach the goals that our wrestlers have set for themselves.”
A 2011 graduate of the now-closed Bishop Donahue, Richmond, now 29 years old, started wrestling when he was 4 years old for the Benwood Bruisers.
“I was taught by the Giovengo’s and my uncle Ralph Brandon, as well,” he recalled.
He calls Sansone, not only a great friend but a great mentor, as well.
“He has been, outside of my immediate family, the biggest role model I’ve had. Even going way back to my high school days when I was the only state qualifier as a freshman. It was just me and him that shared a room, essentially.
“I’ve been around him (Sansone) in one way or another for about the last 15 years. Even when I wasn’t directly an athlete or an assistant coach under him, I still worked out and hung out with him. We really grew from being a head coach-assistant coach to becoming really good friends, and a mentor as well. We really bonded during those years.”
While Richmond is in charge of the program now, he said there aren’t many things to change.
“Obviously, he built a very good program here, but there are a couple of things that I want to try and implement a little more. I was a product of Joel Sansone,” he explained. “There is always room to grow and things that you, as a head coach, want to do. I’m just hoping to take what Joel did and improve upon it.”
The cupboard isn’t bare as the Red Devils lost just three seniors to graduation. However, it will be the leadership he will be looking for.
“We had 15 kids coming back that saw varsity action last season. There are a couple of younger kids that I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do,” he said. “We’re really trying to find that next leader. That’s going to be the hard part. Replacing talent like Caden and Gannon Kazmirski, who was also a state placer last winter, is going to be difficult, but replacing the leadership that they provided is going to be really tough.”
As far as Nolte being his assistant.
“Dillon has been helping out with us for the last six years,” Richmond said of his varsity assistant and good friend. “Even though he is listed as my assistant, I respect him a whole lot. The decisions that I make will also be run past him, as well. I’m very happy to have him as my assistant. He is a very technical, intelligent coach.”
Richmond, who is employed as an Interactive Media teacher at St. Clairsville High School, wanted to thank some people who have helped him get to where he is..
“The No. 1 person I would like to thank is Dr. Walt Skaggs. He is putting a lot of trust in me. He also put a lot of trust in me when I first started here seven years ago. I can’t thank him enough.”
He also wanted to thank his parents, Deb and Lou Richmond.
“Their love and support over my lifetime has been above and beyond what I could have expected,” he stressed.
He also had one last thank you for Sansone.
“He’s been there for Dillon and I. Honestly, the last 2-3 years he was preparing for this by giving Dillon and myself more responsibilities. I hope I can live up to the expectations.”