Wrestling: Not putting on Ayres

It was over. The training, the mental preparation, the undefeated regular season — it had all gone out the window. Newton High School senior Chris Ayres had set his mind on winning a state title his senior year. Now, he had just been defeated in the New Jersey high school wrestling state championships.

“My world was devastated,” Ayres said. “I didn’t even place.”

Soon, he would approach his dad and grammar school coach with a grim proposition.

“I wanted to quit the sport,” Ayres said. “I’d worked so hard and didn’t get any return in my mind from it. I told my parents, ‘I’m not going to college. I quit the sport. I’m done. I’ll just work construction.’ ”

Ayres’ father and his grammar school coach, a family friend who was present at the time of Ayres’ surrender, had other plans.

“They said ‘No. You’re gonna keep wrestling, and you’re gonna go to college,’ ” Ayres said.

Roughly 15 years later, the decision made in the Ayres’ house that day has made quite a difference. With his strong work ethic renewed, Ayres walked on at Lehigh following a postgraduate year at wrestling powerhouse Blair Academy. Four years later, he left Lehigh as the Mountain Hawks’ winningest wrestler of all time, an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion at 150 pounds and an NCAA All-American and national sixth-place finisher at 157 pounds.

But as had been the case in high school, Ayres was not satisfied. He had aimed for a national championship, and once again, he had failed to realize his goal. His thirst for competition was unquenched, and he decided to continue training, even trying out for the Olympic team. In the meantime, he signed on as an assistant coach at Lehigh, an easy avenue to continue wrestling.

“If I had won nationals, I don’t know if I would’ve stayed [at Lehigh],” Ayres said. “It was kind of a blessing in disguise.”

At first, Ayres joined the staff to practice his own moves on the younger wrestlers, but over time, he became more invested in their improvement than in his own.

“I thought less about myself and what I was trying to do with wrestling and more about the guys,” Ayres said. “I think I came to a point where I realized that was more important to me.”

In spring 2006, after five years at Lehigh, he was appointed Princeton’s head wrestling coach.

“I knew the program wasn’t in the greatest of places, but I basically took it on potential and what it could be,” Ayres said.

Ayres immediately began to transform the feeble Princeton program both on the recruiting trail and on the mat with the veterans he took over. One of his focuses has been eliminating techniques that work in high school but are ineffective in collegiate wrestling.

“He changed the style and tempo of practice,” senior captain Marty Everin said. “He brought a lot of ‘combat wrestling’ to practices, which helped prepare wrestlers for the physical demand of college competition.”

But wrestling is a sport in which psychological battles often play a huge role in matches, making it as mentally draining as it is physically challenging. Ayres’ motivational skills, bolstered by his work ethic, have gone a long way toward reviving a program that was down on itself. He has taught that confidence comes from hard work.

“He has preached from day one that we are now doing the right things, the things that successful programs do, and if we follow along and buy into what he’s bringing to the table, we can have success here at Princeton,” Everin said.

“Coach preaches that in order to build the confidence to compete with the best wrestlers in the nation, or compete in any aspect of life, you must prepare more than anyone else,” junior Mike Alvarez said in an e-mail. “By training harder than everyone, you develop the feeling that you deserve to win every match, and this leads to complete confidence.”

As much as Ayres values his job as a coach, he also relishes his role as the adult figure that wrestlers on campus see most often. College is a huge change from high school, as students cannot rely as heavily on adults for support.

“A lot of what we do has nothing to do with wrestling,” Ayres said. “We deal with a lot of stuff with school, especially here. I really enjoy that part of it, too, because you really get to know the kids and hopefully have an impact on their life. There’s a misconception that all we do is teach wrestling moves. It’s way beyond that.”

This dedication and desire to go beyond what’s merely adequate has allowed Ayres to begin moving the program back in the right direction. While Princeton has yet to win a dual meet under Ayres’ direction, last season saw Princeton’s first All-Ivy selection in three seasons, then-freshman Travis Erdman, and an EIWA place-winner, then-freshman Tony Comunale. This fall, Ayres brought in his first nationally ranked recruit, freshman 141-pounder Daniel Kolodzik.

Ayres expects the Tigers will win a meet this season and is confident they will continue to improve.

“I told the [athletic director] when I came here that I want to win the Ivy League, and I want to be one of the best in the country,” Ayres said.

Outside of wrestling, Ayres spends most of his time with his two young children and wife. He’s not concerned about the lack of time for his old hobbies, playing the guitar and fishing because his love of coaching has grown so much over the years.

“The greatest thing about my life is that I’m paid to do what I love,” Ayres said. “I come here every day, and while some days are rougher than others, I’m excited to be doing what I’m doing. I’m doing my hobby, and I’m making a living on it.”