“One of the best things that I did in my professional life.” That’s how Nick LaFevre describes his time as the Head Wrestling Coach 
at Palisades. His tenure ended on Monday, as he stepped down from both the boys’ and girls’ programs after seven years. He’s excited about the next chapter in his life, which will be getting married to his fiancé Victoria in September and with that, moving out of the area.
LaFevre said, “It starts with Brian Gilbert for being a mentor and an unbelievable example of the kind of person that I wanted to model myself around.” He added, “Coaching at Palisades probably is one of the best things that I did in my professional life and I’m prouder of my time at Palisades than anything else I’ve ever done professionally. I’m probably most proud of being the coach there and getting that girls wrestling program going and helping the boys get their only Colonial League championship in school history.
The Palisades Wrestling program has been on the rise since LaFevre took over and his connection with his wrestlers has been great. Palisades Athletic Director Brian Gilbert, says, “The Palisades community and School District is thankful for Coach LaFevre and everything he has done for our student athletes. He worked hard to continue to improve our boys program every year. He introduced girls wrestling to Palisades where we became very successful, quickly. He will be missed but leaves behind a good foundation for future teams!”
What’s next for LaFevre, he says wrestling will take a backseat for a while, as he has more priorities moving forward. He says, “It’s not like I can just move on from all my kids at Palisades and just like that go somewhere else right away. I’m just going to focus on my fiancé and my future wife and starting our family and take things from there.”
LaFevre said that one of his favorite memories is the day-to-day interaction with his wrestlers but one of his favorite events at Palisades was the annual Thanksgiving Day run with his team and alumni to Milford New Jersey. He said, “The funny part is we would run right by my grandparent’s house and it’s like one of the things that the team always looked forward to and we would stop on Thanksgiving morning and say Happy Thanksgiving.”
The Palisades families and community will always remain in LaFevre’s heart and as for getting back on the sidelines one day, he says, “Yes, I see myself coaching again.”
