The sport of wrestling has given a lot to Greens Farms Academy’s Jack Conroy ’06.
Likewise, Conroy has given a lot back to the sport, as well.
He has coached the Dragons into a nationally respected program that has risen to the ranks of a multi-time league champion and New England regional power, and he has helped lead wrestlers to individual championships on both a regional and national level.
This coming week, though, Conroy gets to do something extra special: He’s coaching Team USA in an international event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Conroy, along with former GFA assistant coach Jake Fisher, will don the red, white and blue to take part in the 2022 Thor Masters Tournament, a United World Wrestling Rankings Event.
The event will be held on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at the Nyk F Hallen Arena in Copenhagen.
“This is my first time representing the United States in international competition, so it means a lot to me, honestly,” Conroy said. “It’s cool to see your coaching career progress to a point where you've sort of been acknowledged and respected by your peers and the people around you.”
Getting to coach Fisher in the tournament was an added bonus as Conroy has known his former assistant coach and been a huge part of his competitive career since.
“You know Jake's a special athlete who is frankly one of the top competitors in the last 20 years in his weight class,” Conroy said. “And one of the things that makes it especially impressive is that he's 38 years old and he's still competing.”
Fisher had been the No. 1 seed entering the 2020 Olympic Trials and is still forging ahead with his career.
“It’s the highest level you can wrestle,” Conroy explained. “He’s preparing for the 2024 Olympics now and I’ll be coaching him out there, but I’ll be coaching other Team USA wrestlers, as well. I’m super excited.”
Fisher will be competing at 77 kilograms in Greco Roman, which is a style where all attacks are upper-body.
Conroy is hoping the experience can be parlayed into future coaching opportunities with other Team USA squads, as well.
“You hope it’s a foot in the door,” Conroy said. “Having that foot in the door is huge. Having that experience is half the battle and it’s good to know you have the experience to coach at that level.”
In another GFA angle, joining Conroy on the coaching staff is current Williams College coach Scott Honecker, who is coaching GFA graduates Peter Kane ’22 and Caleb Seyfried ’22.
After graduating from GFA in 2006, Conroy took his wrestling talents to Bucknell University. Upon his graduation there, he returned to his alma mater as a physical education teacher and became the school’s wrestling coach.
Conroy has been involved at all levels of wrestling, coaching high school All-Americans, College All-Americans, and Senior Level All-Americans.
His athletes have won Pan American Cadet Game championships, qualified for Olympic trials, and accumulated dozens of State and New England Titles.
He was voted by the New England Independent School Wrestling Coaches Association as the New England Coach of the year in 2018.
While coaching at GFA his teams have won the small school New England Championships every year since its inception, won the Western New England Championships (also known as the prep states), and broken a 28-year winning streak by a rival school to capture two-straight FAA championships.
Conroy is also Head Wrestling Coach at South Side Wrestling Club and has been a member of the Connecticut National Team coaching staff for the last eight years.