Port Washington High School’s head wrestling coach, Anthony Schettino, recently celebrated his 300th career win as the school’s head coach.
The Schreiber Athletics and National Wrestling Hall of Famer said the sport has forever shaped his life and the lives of countless athletes he’s trained over the years.
Schettino has coached wrestling for 33 years at Port Washington School District and became the school’s head coach over 20 years ago. In that time, Schettino was the Nassau County Coach of the Year three times and received the Long Island Sportsman of the Year award.
“Coach Schettino is everything we want in a coach leading our student-athletes,” said Nick Schratwieser, director of health and physical education at Port Washington School District. “The dedication that he puts into individual athletes and the overall program of wrestling in Port Washington is an incredible thing to see.”
“It’s so much more than wrestling. He wants to see them be better people,” Schettino said.
Schettino began his athletics career playing judo at Port Youth Activities. But he got the wrestling itch by watching his uncle, Chris Murray, become a standout wrestler at Port Washington High School.
As a high school wrestler, Schettino credits his growth and achievements to then-head coach Bob Busby, who led the school’s wrestling team for 36 years.
“He was a mentor and inspirational figure,” Schettino said. “And I remember when he reached probably close to around his 30th year coaching, I said to him, ‘That’s going to be a goal of mine one day, put in that many years.’”
Schettino said the sport has become more rigorous for the athletes since he first started coaching. Wrestlers once competed in around ten dual meets and a few tournaments each season. Now, Schettino said his team participates in up to three competitions per week during the season.
Schettino’s coaching mindset has also evolved over the years. In his early years as an assistant coach, Schettino said his deadset focus on winning matches became a mental drain on him and his athletes.
Instead, he shifted his focus from solely winning to helping his wrestlers become the best version of themselves, both on and off the mats, by instilling a strong work ethic and the values of commitment, responsibility, and sacrifice.
“Through that, I found that I became a more successful coach, and we became a more successful program,” Schettino said.
Schettino has led his team to many victories. This past season produced 11 All-Conference wrestlers, two All-County wrestlers, six Scholar All-American wrestlers, and one Character & Leadership All-American Wrestler who will be named in a few weeks.
Along with coaching wrestlers at Port Washington High School, Schettino has coached the youth wrestling program at PYA for over 20 years. Making sure the young wrestlers have fun while learning the sometimes challenging sport is Schettino’s top priority.
The younger wrestlers learn the sport through team-building exercises and practices with high school wrestlers, which Schettino said makes his older athletes stronger leaders.
While the current wrestling season comes to a close, Schettino said the grind continues as his team plans to start back up with off-season training.
“For me, it never stops,” Schettino said.
