Mount Olive wrestling coach Sean Smyth knows his way around a wrestling mat as a competitor and a coach.

Last weekend, he coached from the corner as a proud dad.

And he loved every minute of it.

There isn’t much that Smyth has not accomplished in the sport. He placed seventh-eighth in the state tournament in Atlantic City for Roxbury High in 1992, He guided Mount Olive to a state Group IV championship in 2022, when he was later named New Jersey Coach of the Year by his peers. He coached a state champion (Tyeler Hagensen last year) and has a career coaching record of 370-154-1 over 25 years.

Last weekend, he brought 11 Mount Olive wrestlers to Boardwalk Hall, a public-school high.

Two of them were his children, Colin and Molly.

“It was a very unique experience as a coach-dad, dad-coach,” he said. “Definitely one of the highlights of my life as a coach.

“I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.”

Colin Smyth (144 pounds) started out the year slowly with a broken foot and was 2-5 at one point while trying to make his way through Mount Olive’s rugged schedule.

But he soon caught fire in the postseason, pinning his way through District 6. A week later, he pinned his way to the finals and took second at Region 2.

He lost in the first round of the states and was eliminated in the first round of wrestlebacks.

But the memory of his first trip as a wrestler to AC – and being coached by his father – will live on.

“It was pretty pretty cool,” Colin said. “He is my dad and my coach. It is a cool experience. No other wrestler has that.”

Sean Smyth helped his son navigate his way through a rocky beginning of the year.

“Colin had the broken foot and he was on the IR,” Sean said. “When he got back, we were in a meat grinder of a schedule. He battled and did what he had to do. He bounced back nicely going into districts.

“Colin was not 100 percent when the season began, but when he was cleared to wrestle, he didn’t look like himself. He got back into shape and turned it on when he had to at the districts.”

Molly Smyth (126), a junior, began the year on the same uneasy path that her brother did. She had mono and that sidetracked her in the early going, but nothing could stop her in the postseason once she got rolling.

She won three matches at Region 1 before losing in the semifinals and then won two wrestleback matches and qualified for AC. Molly Smyth beat the third, fourth, and top seed to take third.

“Not an easy path,” Sean Smyth said.

In the state tournament, she was knocked out of the winner’s bracket but bounced back to place seventh, pinning Plainfield’s Melanie Hernandez in 3:12.

“Phenomenal,” her dad said.

“No one was expecting me to place,” Molly said. “I was seeded 11 (in the regions), no one believed in me. I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I got my mind there and I did it.”

Colin and Molly have been around the sport all of their lives. Colin absorbed the love his dad has for the sport and began wrestling around the age of 5. Molly, meanwhile, has been a scorekeeper almost since she learned how to read and write.

It took her awhile to become interested in stepping into the circle. In the middle of last season, she decided to strap on a singlet and headgear. 

“She came out halfway through last year,” the coach said. “‘I want to try this.’ She finished with a winning record. She dedicated herself in the offseason and went to clubs. We showed her what we do on the boys side and she did it.”

When it came time for the state tournament a few weeks ago, she chose her father to be her coach. Jeremy Mayer, who wrestled for Hackettstown, is the highly-respected Mount Olive girls coach.

“Our coaches on the girl’s side are great,” Sean Smyth said. “I asked Molly and she said yes.”

“I definitely wanted him in my corner,” she said. 

“It was very exciting,” Sean said. “She knows wrestling now. Now she is putting moves together. She has her own gameplan and is extremely competitive. I don’t worry about her. I just try to coach her into the right position.”

Coaching girls after coaching boys for so long is definitely a change.

“When the wrestler you are coaching is your daughter, it is different,” he said. “I’m a little more nervous. I guess that is the dad side in me.

“When Colin goes out there, he lets it fly. Go get it. But Molly is my little girl. She is competitive and tough but something is different.”

And now she has the wrestling bug. Molly and Sean Smyth have been working the phones, trying to set up an offseason wrestling schedule. 

She is also a very good soccer player and was recently asked to try out for the New York Jets Club Flag Football team. Molly Smyth helped lead Mount Olive to the Morris County girls flag football tournament championship and was named MVP.

“She is super calm and the best competitor I have ever coached,” Sean Smyth said. 

Having her dad as coach in the states was a big help.

“I love it,” she said. “I love having him be my coach. He has been around it since he was a young child. He is patient and helps me with all of the moves. He tells me what I need to work on and tells me what will work. He spends a lot of time with me.

“He makes me calm before I go out, he says be mentally there and do your best. That makes me calm.”

Colin, a sophomore, wants to make a return trip to AC.

“Definitely,” he said. “It was definitely an experience. I’m not used to wrestling in that big area. It is really cool with a bunch of good wrestlers and exciting to watch. I need to improve for next season. I know I have the potential to place.”

And he knows he’ll have his dad in his corner, coaching him up and rooting him on.

“It was a great experience,” Sean Smyth said. “To have your own blood family involved the way we did was cool.”