Heavy Lifting: Coach Jim Metzinger and Investing in the Future of Manteo Athletics

By Chris Sawin

On most afternoons at Manteo High School, long after the final bell rings, Jim Metzinger unlocks the door to the wrestling room. The sign still says “Wrestling Room,” but to Metzinger, it’s a classroom of a different kind — one where resilience is built rep by rep.

Metzinger, head wrestling coach and longtime math teacher, didn’t plan on this path. A former college baseball player who once worked construction as an electrician, he found his career as a math teacher almost by chance, when a teaching position opened at Nash Central High School. Coaching followed. More than a decade later, his purpose is clear.

“It’s much more than the sport itself,” he said. “Wrestling’s hard — physically and mentally. When you do something hard every day, you discover something about yourself.”

Ten years ago, when Metzinger took over the wrestling program, there were only two wrestlers. Slowly, intentionally, he built it into the largest high school wrestling program in Dare County. 

Last year alone, participation ranged from 30 to 50 high school athletes, boys and girls. Add in his free, year-round wrestling club for Dare County students and the Dare County Parks and Recreation team for grades 2–5, and nearly 100 young athletes have used the wrestling room — with some students even traveling from Cape Hatteras Secondary School to First Flight High School to train.

Many of them are first-time wrestlers. 

“We get kids who are just looking for somewhere to belong,” Metzinger said. “They want to try something hard. They want to get better.”

This year’s high school team was young — mostly freshmen and sophomores — but hungry. “It was the right group,” he said. “They were coachable. They weren’t scared of competition.”

That growth showed in a historic season. Manteo hosted its largest dual tournament ever, won the conference championship, and hosted a playoff dual for the first time in more than two decades. The girls finished third in the region and the boys ninth, sending six wrestlers to the state championships.

Senior Angelica Ayala Garcia and junior Gabriela AguirreGomez won regional titles, with Gomez finishing as state runner-up. Ayala Garcia also set a school record with 47 straight wins. Myrezza Holton earned a state berth after defeating the eventual state champion at regionals — proof, Metzinger says, that “on any given day, that’s just the sport.” On the boys’ side, senior Malachi Daniels qualified alongside sophomore Colton White and freshman Shaylor Twiddy, both one match shy of placing.

Behind the scenes, however, the team was practicing on mats more than 15 years old — some so outdated that school officials couldn’t locate original purchase records. Sections had been salvaged from Dare County Parks and Recreation when they were slated for disposal. This proved to be a temporary solution because over time, mat padding compresses, reducing protection against falls and increasing the risk of injury and skin infections.

“We had outgrown what we were working with,” Metzinger said. “We had new competition mats, but because of the shape and size of our room, we couldn’t even use them.”

For a decade, Metzinger requested funding through Dare County Schools’ capital improvement process, without success. Instead, he and his athletes fundraised. They purchased wall padding to improve safety and added cardio and training equipment to make the room more functional. But the final piece — lightweight, easy-to-roll practice mats — remained out of reach.

Recognizing the need for support, Coach Metzinger approached the Outer Banks Community Foundation (OBCF) for help. 

Through a Community Enrichment Grant, Manteo High School is able to purchase new, modern mats that will not only improve safety for wrestlers in grades 2 through 12 but also transform the space into a true multi-purpose athletic room. Because the mats can be rolled up in minutes, the room can quickly convert into an indoor practice area for other teams or a cardio and fitness classroom during the school day.

“Options become so much more plentiful when you’ve got the space,” Metzinger says. “If it’s raining, if the heat index is too high, if another team needs a place to go — now we can make that happen.”

The goal is to have the mats installed this year. Metzinger expects fewer in-practice injuries and increased participation as more students feel comfortable trying the sport. The grant does not require continued funding — it’s an investment designed to create long-term impact.

That impact is already visible in the young people who pass through the program. Some former wrestlers now serving in the Navy still check in. Others have gone on to coach at the collegiate level. And this year, there was an especially meaningful connection: state qualifier Myrezza Holton began serving as an intern with the Outer Banks Community Foundation. Seeing her grow both on the mat and in a professional setting has been a full-circle moment.

“That’s the why,” Metzinger says. “It’s the little victories. The first pull-up. The first time you don’t quit. Watching them grow into who they’re going to be.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Outer Banks Community Foundation, countless current and future student-athletes will soon train in a safer, more flexible space. And each afternoon, when Coach Metzinger unlocks that door, he’ll keep doing what he’s always done — helping young people discover strength they didn’t know they had.

For more information about the Community Foundation, visit OBCF.org or call 252-423-3003. 

About the Outer Banks Community Foundation: The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to fostering philanthropy and supporting local causes. Through its charitable funds and grant programs, the Foundation strives to enrich the quality of life for residents of the Outer Banks.