How Rob Nucci built Raritan wrestling into The Green Machine

HAZLET - The Raritan High School wrestling community has called it “Coach Nucci’s Last Ride on the Green Machine."

Raritan's 42-27 win over Wall before a boisterious and enthusiastic sold out crowd at Raritan's "Launch Pad'' was long-time head coach Rob Nucci’s final regular season home match. There is a good chance the Rockets will host two matches in the NJSIAA Central Group 2 Tournament on Feb. 5.

Nucci is resigning at the end of the season after 23 highly successful years. He has been a head coach for 26 seasons overall. He was the head coach at Pinelands for three seasons before he went to Raritan and was an assistant coach for one season each at both Howell and Toms River North. He will remain connected with the Raritan program as the Hazlet Middle School's head coach.

Nucci’s leadership is the reason the Rockets came to be called “The Green Machine’’ and its cozy home gymnasium came to be called “The Launch Pad."

“I’m biased, but I think this gym is pretty special,’’ Nucci said Thursday during an extensive interview in the bleachers of the Launch Pad. “I always say - it’s one of the best wrestling venues in the state. No matter what match we have here, we sell out. This community has really embraced the wrestling program. We’re that blue-collar, hard-nosed type of town and they love our guys. It’s pretty awesome.’’

The love both the Raritan and the Shore Conference wrestling community has for Nucci was evident in a pre-match ceremony Friday night. The crowd listened intently and the Wall wrestlers and coaches, in a sign of respect, watched from their bench area.

Nucci made his entrance to the mat for a brief speech through a long tunnel of Raritan alumni that lined up on both sides.

"He's been ingrained in this town in a culture that he helped develop,'' said Jason Nase, a Wall assistant coach and former Brick and Wall head coach and Rider University All-American. "When you think of Raritan, who do you think of? You think of Rob Nucci.

"To be honest, they're probably one of the most underrated programs in the Shore. To have that consistency year and year out is absolutely phenomenal.''

How the Raritan program was built

Raritan was a solid program under several head coaches before Nucci, including the late Rich Dunnells. But Nucci, his assistant coaches over the years, and all those who have wrestled at Raritan have taken it to another level.

The Rockets have won 450 matches under Nucci, two NJSIAA Group 2 championships (2012 and 2022),  five Central Group 2 championships (2004, 2012, 2018, 2022 and 2023), 14 Shore Conference divisional championships and seven NJSIAA district team championships.

Raritan has had 60 district champions, nine region champions and nine state placewinners during Nucci's tenure. Dan Seidenberg became Raritan's first state finalist. He was a state runner-up in both 2007 and 2008.

Nucci, who has 468 career wins, is second on the Shore Conference's all-time wins list behind Howell's John Gagliano, who has 555.

It has been a program built from the ground up, with the foundation laid before Nucci arrived.

“The founding fathers as I call them -  Art Lynch, Don Murphy, Scott Whelan, Jimmy Erven and Glen Mason – those five started our rec program in 1997-98. I knew those guys wanted to have a successful team and program,’’ Nucci said. “Those guys to this day are still involved. To me, that just shows you what this program is all about.’’

John DeGenito, who has been Raritan's athletic director the last 16 years, admitted Nucci can be "demanding.''

"But, with that comes success,'' DeGenito, who is retiring at the end of the school year, said. "We've had our battles, but the two of us are on the same page 99 percent of the time. We both really care about the kids and we're passionate about what were doing.''

Senior 144-pounder and returning NJSIAA fifth-place finisher Zach Reilley said wrestling for Nucci has been an "amazing'' experience.

"He wants the best for us,'' Reilley said. "He cares for us a lot, and is there for us on and off the mat. He has brought greatness to this town.''

Early lessons learned

Nucci, who was a two-time District 24 champion and then wrestled collegiately at The College of New Jersey, said Dunnells taught him a few lessons early in his career at Raritan.

“I was a young, cocky, arrogant 25 year old,’’ Nucci said. “Coach (Dunnells) kind of sat on me early, mentored me, and said, ‘in order to be successful, you need to have help. You need to let all these people have a role.'

"I feel like we’ve done that better than anybody. Everybody can have a role. When they have a role, they feel like they’re a part of it.’’

Mike Baldi, who was Nucci's head coach during Nucci's scholastic career at Toms River High School North, said Nucci has not changed his style from his scholastic career.

"He coaches just like he wrestled,'' Baldi, who coached Toms River North to the 1990 NJSIAA South Group 4 championship and was later a successful head coach at Christian Brothers Academy, said. "When he was a high school student and the coaching staff would ask for extra conditioning, he'd be the first guy on the line with a smile, and then the rest of the team would follow. He was a leader then and he's a leader now.''

It took a little bit of time for the Rockets to get going at full steam under Nucci. There was a 62-0 shellacking they absorbed from powerful Brick Memorial in a Shore Conference Tournament match in 2002. But, by the 2003-2004 season, Raritan had arrived.

The night Raritan announced its arrival on the state scene

There is no doubt what match is viewed as the watershed moment in Raritan wrestling history.

It is the 2004 Central Group 2 championship match, when an unheralded Rockets’ team went up to tradition-rich Delaware Valley and stunned the vaunted Terriers 30-28 for their first sectional title.  Delaware Valley had routed the Rockets by 44 points the year before in a Central 2 semifinal.

“I remember a reporter asked me (after the match) ‘who the heck are you guys?’ ‘’ Nucci said.

Raritan’s upset came about because of three key bouts:

T.J. Mitchell defeated Dan Kelly, 7-4, at 103; Mitchell eventually was a state fifth-place finisher in 2007 and Kelly a state champion in 2007. Phil O’Hara (119) won his bout 5-3 with a takedown at the buzzer, and Kevin Whalen (125) won his bout 4-2 on three back points off a cradle.

One of the state’s great wrestling rivalries was born that night.

Delaware Valley leads the series 10-7. Delaware Valley went 8-4 against Raritan in Central Group 2 sectional matches, 5-2 in sectional championship matches. Most of those state tournament matches were at Delaware Valley.

Delaware Valley has never beaten Raritan at Raritan. Raritan has won three times in Delaware Valley’s frenzied gymnasium.

Nucci and long-time Delaware Valley head coach Andy Fitz have developed a close friendship over the years.

“I always say with Coach Fitz: It’s that Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward rivalry,’’ Nucci said. “We beat the heck out of each other through all those years. They only made us better, and I really truly believe, we made them better.

“It’s the greatest sectional rivalry in the history of New Jersey. There have been some absolute barnburners with them. It’s just amazing how fun those matches were. I respect their program. Coach Fitz is a phenomenal coach.

One last trip to the old rival

Nucci and Fitz have kept the rivalry going even though Delaware Valley dropped down to Group 1 before the 2021-22 season.

The teams have met in the regular season the last two seasons and both matches lived up to the tradition of the rivalry.

Delaware Valley won 34-32 at Delaware Valley in 2022 Both teams went on to win group championships that season. Raritan won 34-33 on criteria (bouts 8-6) last season at Raritan. Delaware Valley went on to win its second straight Group 1 title. Raritan won the Central Group 2 championship.

Part of Nucci’s “Last Ride on the Green Machine" will be a final trip to Delaware Valley on Feb. 2.

“I can’t wait,’’ Nucci said. “I’ve always said, ‘the second place I’d rather wrestle other than Raritan, is Del Val. Their fans are unbelievable. They’re awesome. Usually, they’re ruthless, but to me, they’re pretty good.

“Win or lose, I’ve always left there with a smile, because it’s about the performance.  To me, Raritan-Del Val has always been a show.’’

The one time it looked like Nucci would leave Raritan

Nucci was probably the leading candidate to be the head coach at Jackson Memorial when Doug Withstandley resigned in his first tenure as Jaguars’ head coach after the 2011 season.

Jackson Memorial, under the legendary Bernie Reider and then the late Joe Pepe, Al Aires, current Rutgers University head coach Scott Goodale and Withstandley, had long been one of the Shore’s most storied programs and one of the area’s plum jobs.

“I walked in, and they (the Jackson administration) say, ‘Job’s yours. Congrats. What do you need?’ ‘’ Nucci said.

But, Nucci decided Raritan was still the place for him.

“I was loyal to here. I’m thrilled that I stayed,’’ Nucci said.

The following season, Raritan won its first Group 2 championship. It beat Delaware Valley in the sectional final, High Point in the Group 2 semifinal and Delsea in the Group 2 final. Those are three of the state’s most storied programs.

In 2022, the Rockets beat High Point for its second Group 2 title.

Why this is the Last Ride on the Green Machine

Nucci feels he is at the point in his life where it is time for him to make a break with the every day grind of being a high school wrestling head coach.

The job entails many hours of administrative work in addition to coaching wrestlers on and off the mat.

There is a lot of offseason work, especially in the summer. Raritan has always been one of the busiest programs in the summer.

“I’m actually kind of excited,’’ Nucci said. “You’re always looking to see what’s next, whether you’re done with a match and immediately looking at matchups for the next match, or you’re done with a season and you’re getting your guys prepared for the following season.

“The one thing I’m looking forward is not looking at what’s next. I just want to be able to embrace and enjoy the present.’’

But, before Nucci departs for the middle school program, Reilley would like to deliver one final present.

"I promised him a state title this year,'' Reilley said. "We'll see what happens, but I want to bring that home just for him.''

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ wrestling: Rob Nucci at Raritan had a great ride