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June 18, 2008

Nickles, Moreland to leave with Class of 2008

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


They are all leaving Ocean City High School this week.

John Fogarty is headed to Villanova. Elisa Mateer will go to Rutgers. Ryan Birchmeier moves on to St. Joseph's. Nancy White's destination is Rowan. Chris Harris will join his brother at Elon. Katie Corson will gallop up to Bloomsburg. Tim Nickas goes on to Mount St. Mary's. Suzanne Mooney will surface at West Chester. Carly Kruedelbach will head west to the University of Colorado.

Josh Marciano is going to Clemson. Melissa Terwilliger will join Mooney at West Chester. Steele Nugent is headed north to Albany. Devon Seifert will attend Old Dominion. Vinnie Djukanovic will play at Rowan. Amy Shrader will go to Temple. Colin Norton and Ryan Beebe will play baseball in Tampa. Neal Melchionni moves on to Lehigh. Chris Mann will be at Towson. Heather Higbee goes to Nova Southeastern in Florida. Angelo Camano will be at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Justin Heckler takes his clubs to Rowan. Tyler Lawler and Chris Stickel will be at Delaware. Joe Petrini travels south to Clemson. Rich Fredericks and Matt Newsome go to Marietta. Kathleen Kleva moves on to Kutztown. Mike Coletta will be at Rowan. Stephen Hoffman goes to Pennsylvania School of Technology. Nick Buyse heads for Drexel. Erik Conover's destination is Northeastern. Alex Forsman will attend Marist. And Tyler Huck takes off for St. Joseph s.

There are more - many more - student athletes who graduate from OCHS this week. These are the ones who have made their college destinations known to us. As others determine their college destination, we will pass them along.

One thing is sure. All of the talented young men and women from the Class of 2008 enhanced the reputation of the Raiders. Some brought championships to the school, others just battled and competed. They have been a pleasure to watch over their four years in high school and those that intend to continue their sports careers at the next level will undoubtedly bring that same competitive spirit with them.

But OCHS will not only lose dozens and dozens of its best athletes to graduation this year. It will also lose two of its most successful coaches.

Bill Nickles and Bill Moreland, two of the seven winningest coaches in Raider history, will not return as head coaches in the 2008-09 school year. Nickles was the head wrestling coach for 31 seasons, equaling the OCHS record set by Phil Birnbaum in boys tennis. Moreland coached the boys cross country team for 27 years and added eight more as girls track coach. They are two of the seven Ocean City coaches who have amassed more than 300 total victories.

When Nickles took over the OCHS wrestling program in 1977 it had only been around for four years, only one of which produced a winning season. By the early 1980s he advanced the program, putting together eight winning seasons in nine years. That included a district team championship and a Coach of the Year award for Nickles. It also included the remarkable career of Pat Lynch, who has been an assistant to Nickles and will reportedly join him in stepping down.

In addition to Lynch, the Nickles Era brought wrestling fans the excitement of Trip Snyder, Drew Muzslay, Greg Austin and Joey Galante, among others. He leaves the school with a large new wrestling room, though he still longed for the old high school gym across the street, which he fondly calls "the dungeon".

Since Jimmy Carter was President, Nickles, who will continue to teach, has been Ocean City wrestling. With his Hawaiian shirts and assortment of beards and mustaches, he has guided the program with personality and determination, taking full advantage of the skills of assistants like Lynch and Tony Galante.

Moreland, who is retiring as a teacher, took control of Ocean City boys cross country in 1979 after Jim Harris had established the program with four winning seasons in five years. Moreland promptly put together a string of 18 straight winning seasons, including a 19-0 team in 1980. Moreland leaves the sport having added two more unbeaten seasons in the last three years; winning his first two South Jersey championships during the last four years; seeing his runners win four individual South Jersey titles in the past seven years; and, in his final state meet, watching Brett Johnson become the first male runner in school history to win a state championship.

When Mike Naples retired in 1999, Moreland moved from an assistant in the boys track program to become head girls track coach. He had eight straight winning seasons, continuing Ocean City's record of never having had a losing season in the sport. This spring he reversed that move, returning as an assistant so he could watch his son run and relinquishing the girls head coaching job to his longtime assistant, Kevin Greene.

A math teacher, Moreland has a quiet demeanor but is quick to interpret the numbers. He is a longtime distance runner himself, bringing that experience to the job. He may also continue to contribute to the OCHS running program in some capacity during retirement.

Ocean City High School will miss the talented student-athletes who have officially moved on this week. But, quite frankly, the school's athletic program is so successful that a large number of key athletes seem to graduate every June. And because of the talent available in the lower grades, the Raiders' success continues.

But it is not every year that a school loses two of the most successful coaches in its history, two men that dedicated a significant part of their lives to the young athletes of Ocean City.

Bill Nickles and Bill Moreland will be difficult to replace.


TOP 20 TOTAL RAIDER COACHING VICTORIES
(number of sports in parentheses; 2007-08 coaches are CAPITALIZED)

1-Phil Birnbaum (2) 662
2-Pat Dougherty (2) 481
3-TRISH LeFEVER (1) 443
4-Dixie Howell (4) 394
5-Mike Naples (2) 342
6-BILL MORELAND (2) 336
7-BILL NICKLES (1) 311
8-Fenton Carey (5) 289
9-JOHN BRUNO (2) 278
10-Jack Boyd (1) 227
11-Chris Lentz (1) 217
12-MIKE PELLEGRINO (1) 211
13-WENDY NICKLES (1) 208
14-CRAIG MENSINGER (1) 206
15-Ralph Carson (1) 181
16-Roland Watson (2) 178
17-Leo Chase (4) 177
18-SKIP ANGELO (1) 174
19-Wayne Colman (2) 164
20-PAUL BARUFFI (1) 143



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