Wrestling: Swertfager Closes In On History

It's something special to be on the verge of a school record that is held by one of your friends. It's even more exciting to be able to have that chance to break it during the postseason.

But to break that record in the same gym that your father toiled in to reach the state championships—that's icing on the cake.

That will be the scenario for John Jay senior Mark Swertfager on Sunday.

He's the number one seed in the 140-pound bracket of the Division II wrestling tournament, which is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 6 at Horace Greeley High School.

The tournament was originally scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, but was moved back a day because of the expected bad weather.

Swertfager has 151 wins. The current school record stands at 152, held by Billy Watterson, a 2010 John Jay graduate who is now wrestling at Brown University. 

Swertfager, who will have three matches, is expected to tie and break the record this weekend at the divisionals at Greeley. The first four finishers in each weight class at Greeley, along with the other top four finishers in the other three divisionals, will go on to the Section 1 large-school championships at Lincoln High School in Yonkers Feb. 12-13.

“It means a lot because the kid that holds the record, Billy Watterson, was a great wrestler and the John Jay program is just such a phenomenal program," Swertfager said. “We were really good friends. We wrestled as partners in the wrestling room so we wrestled a lot with each other.”

Seeing him on the verge of such an historic record is also special for his coach and father, John Jay boss Bill Swertfager. The elder Swertfager was an undefeated 215-pound state champion his senior year and a two-time sectional champion at Greeley.

“That means a lot because my dad went there, wrestled there and if I get it there, it’s icing on the cake," said Mark.

His father spoke with pride as he talked about his son being on the verge of a school record.

“It is special," said the elder Swertfager. "He’s done this without being able to wrestle as a seventh or eighth grader, which most of the school districts allow. John Jay doesn’t allow seventh or eighth graders to play at a high-school level."

"So he started out as an ninth-grader, wrestled varsity right away," he continued. "He’s just consistently won for the last four years. He’s been all-section three years in a row and hopefully he will again this year.”

The John Jay coach said that the his son started wrestling at either 7 or 8 years old.

 "He doesn’t wrestle all-year-round," said Bill. "He’s a baseball player, he’s going to Marist to play baseball. He also plays football, starting at free safety. He was the starting catcher on the baseball team. He’s a tough, athletic kid. He’s picked the sport up quickly and he’s been very good at it for many years.”

Mark said that he has been good at the sport for as long as he has because of the people around him at John Jay.

“I have been fortunate to receive great coaching from my dad and the rest of the coaching staff," he  said. "I have had great wrestling partners, and this is just a great program that I have been able to surround myself around.”

For some, wrestling for their father could be difficult but it hasn't been a problem for Mark.

 “It’s different," he  said. "It’s not what people would think. It’s actually kind of fun having your dad there. It’s given me the chance to spend extra time with my dad I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. It gives me something to talk about with him. It’s a lot of fun.”

It's also been a lot of fun for his father to coach him.

 “I have actually enjoyed it a lot," said Bill. "My thing is I know how hard he works. I know he gets up in the morning, he runs, he lifts. He does things at night, he looks at video. He wrestles incredibly hard. I actually enjoy watching him wrestle, win or lose."