THREE PROGRAMS IN ONE

Two questions frequently asked of Blair head coach Jeff Buxton are, "Why would a kid attend Blair while in high school and pass up the chance at becoming a state champion?" and "Why would a graduating senior attend Blair when he has already been accepted to college?" Buxton's reply to both queries is usually the same: "They come to Blair because they see the big picture."

The goal of the Blair Academy wrestling program is to provide student-athletes with as many opportunities as possible. In an effort to accomplish that goal we expanded our schedule for the 1999-2000 season by adding specific competitions for our Prep Team. The creation of a Prep schedule enables wrestlers from both the college and high school teams to compete on the same squad in dual meet competition against other prep schools, and provides increased opportunities for our entire roster.

The College Team
The college team is composed primarily of postgraduates and wrestles strictly a collegiate schedule throughout the season. Postgraduates attend Blair for a range of reasons and strive to achieve many different goals. In general, though, Blair provides an extra year for high school graduates to develop further academically, socially and athletically before attending college. Academically, the postgraduate year affords students the opportunity to take a wide assortment of advanced placement course work (potentially leading to college credit or placement) as well as the chance to strengthen their aptitude in a particular subject area. With regard to wrestling, the entire postgraduate year at Blair is spent competing against athletes from the junior varsities of Division 1 colleges, community colleges and the open-level in order to prepare specifically for wrestling in the collegiate ranks. Blair college wrestlers have, while at Blair, battled opponents that range from first-year college wrestlers to an NCAA Division 1 finalist and even an Olympian from the 1996 US team! College coaches are keenly aware of Blair's record of success and are willing to provide opportunities for our wrestlers that make our program unique in its ability to schedule top-notch competition. Most dual meets are wrestled away from Blair, giving postgraduates the chance to see a variety of campuses, wrestling facilities and programs first-hand. When the winter season is complete, Blair college wrestlers are provided opportunities to continue competing throughout the spring in tournaments such as the Junior World Team Trials. Blair postgraduates have gone on to compete successfully at all levels of NCAA collegiate wrestling from NAIA to Division 1.

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The High School Team
The Blair high school team comprises student-athletes in grades 9 through 12 and wrestles a high school schedule throughout the season. At Blair, high school wrestlers have the chance to compete daily with older, more experienced, and often more skilled partners from the college team in the workout room. Over the last few years the high school team has been very successful at the highest levels of competition, while at the same time providing for the needs of a rapidly growing roster. On several occasions throughout the year, the high school team is divided into two or three squads in order to compete in as many separate competitions on the same day. There are no tryouts for the team and no "cuts" are made. The only prerequisite for being a part of the program is the desire to learn about the sport, to work hard and to do one's best. With athletes whose experience ranges from first-year wrestler to age-group national champion entering the program, Blair's philosophy is to provide opportunities for all team members to learn, succeed and grow.

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The Prep Team
The prep team is a combination of the high school and college teams. This team competes primarily against other prep schools who have postgraduates on their rosters. The prep team's focus is on providing expanded opportunities for wrestlers of all skill levels.

Opportunities Off the Mat
Demanding and supportive academics, superb facilities, and a wide variety of extra-curricular offerings complete the big picture at Blair. Blair Academy is a coeducational, college preparatory boarding school situated in northwestern New Jersey with a student population of about 420. Blair students come from an extremely wide range of geographic, ethnic, financial and cultural backgrounds. The common thread among them is the desire to succeed.

The typical class size is from 12 to 15 students, which allows not only for individual attention, but also for students to become truly engaged in their education. Blair students are further supported by a framework of faculty composed of a class monitor, a faculty advisor and a college counselor, all of whom work closely with students to ensure that they are doing what is necessary to set and accomplish their goals. Blair wrestlers are expected to, and have been able to, balance their academic responsibilities quite well. The graduation rate and the college acceptance rate for the wrestling team over the last 25 years are both a perfect 100%.

Blair wrestlers have matriculated to the finest universities in the world including Harvard, The University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, Yale, M.I.T., Lehigh, The U.S. Military Academy, The U.S. Naval Academy, The University of North Carolina, Boston College and New York University. Currently there are approximately 50 Blair graduates actively wrestling in college.

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