Belvidere
school gets director of athletics
Saturday, July 30, 2005 • By
MIKE WEILAMANN • The
Express-Times
Belvidere High School finally has a new
director of athletics.
Buddy Freund, who was approved for the
position at Wednesday's school board meeting, formally
accepted the job Friday after meeting with Principal Dirk
Swaneveld.
Freund was formerly the athletic director
at Roxbury High School until several of the Morris County
school's wrestlers were involved in a locker-room sexual
assault in 2003.
Most recently a home economics teacher at
Roxbury, Freund was hired at a salary of $71,600, Swaneveld
said.
"I'm eager to get him on board," the
principal said. "He has five years of experience (as an
athletic director) and he brings a lot to the
table."
Swaneveld said Belvidere conducted an
exhaustive, month-long search that included an extensive
background check of Freund.
According to published reports, five
wrestlers at Roxbury High School were involved in a locker
room sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in
2003.
Principal Joseph Toohey, Freund, former
wrestling coach Todd Milsom and a guidance counselor, were
accused by state athletic officials of covering up the
incident in an effort to protect the team, according to The
Star-Ledger of Newark.
After an investigation by the New Jersey
Interscholastic State Athletic Association, Roxbury's
wrestling team was stripped of its 2003 District 2
championship banner for failing to immediately inform police
and suspend the wrestlers involved.
An NJSIAA report called Freund's conduct
"negligent"; Roxbury officials reported the case to police
two months after the Feb. 26, 2003, incident, according to
The Star-Ledger.
The state association also slapped $500
fines on the district, the now-retired Toohey and Freund. In
addition, the program was placed on probation for two years
and the wrestlers were stripped of their individual district
tournament medals.
Four of the wrestlers accepted plea deals
in January 2004, admitting their roles in the assault. They
were sentenced to a juvenile work program, community service
and probation. Charges against a fifth wrestler were
dismissed when he agreed to cooperate.
The Roxbury school board abolished the
position of athletic director in May 2004 -- despite a
public outcry from parents and students to let Freund retain
the position. That left Freund with the option to return to
the high school as a home economics teacher.
Roxbury High School officials denied a
connection between the administrative change and the
assault.
"We did a reference check, on and off
(Freund's reference) list," Swaneveld said. "You can't
always believe everything you hear nor can you believe
everything you read. Through that extensive check I felt
very comfortable hiring him. It's one of the most important
decisions we'll make all year."
Brian Smith, the Belvidere school board
president, also said he was aware of the sexual assault
incident. Freund was an outstanding choice despite the past
troubles, he said.
"What's past is past, and whatever
sanction occurred, occurred," Smith said. "A lot of people
have things that have happened, unfortunate events that
they're sorry it happened and we move on with our
lives."
Smith emphasized that Freund was
extremely qualified for the job.
"He has a tremendous amount of AD
experience, dealing with huge athletic budgets, scores of
students in various sports in Roxbury, which has a very
extensive athletic program," Smith said. "To me it was clear
that he's the best qualified applicant that we have seen and
we have every expectation that he is going to do an
outstanding job as AD."
"He's gotten a tremendous amount of
recommendations from various people in the athletic
community and the administrative community," Smith added.
"This is a guy who had that one unfortunate incident. He was
involved in that incident. But other than that, this guy is
what you would want in an AD."
Swaneveld said he received a few phone
calls Friday from concerned parents and staff members who
learned of Freund's background in Friday's
newspaper.
Swaneveld also said Freund's hiring was
met with opposition by some board members.
"His hiring was not unanimous, but he
certainly had the majority of the board's support,"
Swaneveld said. "Obviously I can't say what was said in
executive session (during Wednesday's board meeting), but he
was very up-front with us."
The board voted 9-2 to make the offer,
with Dan Orsini and Laura Murphy dissenting.
Swaneveld said Freund's hiring is a "done
deal" and he will no longer discuss the matter.
"It's a dead issue and we are going to
move forward from here," he added.
Freund also refused to comment on the
incident at Roxbury and said he is looking forward to his
new position at Belvidere.
"I'm very excited and appreciative of the
opportunity," Freund said. "I had three interviews with
various administrators and I'm very, very excited to get
started with the Belvidere family and for the faith they've
put in me."
Freund also feels he has a lot to offer
Belvidere, where he said he will also serve as the middle
school's supervisor, which he equates to the role of an
assistant principal.
"I think they will find I'm a person of
character and integrity," he said. "One of my strengths is
building positive relationships with people and a strong
work ethic."
Freund also served as Roxbury's wrestling
coach from 1989-99, before taking over as the school's
athletic director, a position he held from
1999-04.
On Thursday, Swaneveld confirmed there
were three finalists for the job, including Freund and
Dominic Pettinelli, a Phillipsburg High School graduate and
former assistant wrestling coach at Hackettstown. Officials
would not identify the third candidate.
The job opened when Dave Barr resigned at
the end of the school year after the board approved him for
the upcoming school year.
Former Bangor, Belvidere and Hackettstown
wrestling coach Jeff May also confirmed he was recently
offered the chance to return to the Warren County school as
athletic director.
May, who teaches chemistry at West
Morris, declined for financial reasons. May was not rehired
in June as the Morris County school's head wrestling coach
after 13 seasons at the helm.
The first priority for Freund and school
officials will be the hiring of a head wrestling
coach.
Swaneveld said he will meet with his new
athletic director and Barr on Tuesday to begin sifting
through resumes.
Belvidere had put off hiring a new coach
until it had an athletic director in place.
According to sources, former Belvidere
wrestlers Josh Tresslar and Josh Costantino both have
applied for the wrestling job. In addition, current
assistant coach Brett Hyland, who was approved by the school
board in June to return this season, also is a
candidate.
Former coach Mike Jiorle, a Wilson Area
High School graduate and former standout wrestler, was not
rehired for the head wrestling job in June. Jiorle had
served the past two seasons in that role, his first head
coaching job. Staff writer Sara Leitch contributed to this
story.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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