Ewing, NJ…As the head wrestling coach at The College of New Jersey, Dave Icenhower not only led his program to five national championships and countless honors, but he prepared his grapplers for life after graduation. This weekend a large contingent will return to the Ewing campus to help thank the coach that guided them as they bring the next generation of wrestlers to the 2012 TCNJ Pride Tournament.
 
The tournament, which is set for Saturday, December 15 in the Student Recreation Center, will consist of 16 high school teams, but in order for those teams to enter a member of their coaching staffs must be a former wrestler from the College.  The tournament's concept was hatched by former two-time All-American Anton Atterbury '99 three years ago at the annual youth summer camp, but this will mark the first time it has been held on campus. It was held at Sayreville High School the first two times.
 
“A few years ago at camp I was talking with Ice and a few guys I wrestled with and we were saying how great it is to come to TCNJ camp every summer,” Atterbury recalled.  “We also noticed how there were a bunch of different generations of Ice's former wresters turned coaches at camp. Every summer, it's always a great time competing against former teammates, along with the non-stop laughs, with everyone trading stories. So I thought with so many coaches out there who wrestled for Ice, it would be great to have them compete during the winter.”
 
The tournament name stems from the amount of pride that those involved in the Lion program has, as well as a play on how lions stick together in the wild.
 
TCNJ head coach Joe Galante '07 noted that his program is also starting to see the rewards of the tournament as current Lion and freshman Nick Herring (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) competed in the event before attending TCNJ.
 
 “I thought this was a neat idea from the start. When Anton presented me with the idea, I felt it hit all the right aspects of the program,” Icenhower said. “We are additionally proud to have all these coaches who graduated from TSC/TCNJ still coaching at the high school level. It was also great because my son Jared got to participate in the first event in 2010.”