The program was a joint venture between the Princeton Recreation Department and the wrestling staff at Princeton High School for many years until six seasons ago. A partnership was then formed between the recreation department and the wrestling staff at Princeton University in 1999, bringing Head Coach Michael New into the PAWS picture.
Coach New and his staff have worked hard to improve the program. The facilities that PAWS uses at Princeton University are new and state of the art. With the help of many of his former and current wrestlers, Coach New solidified PAWS wrestling as an adopted arm of Princeton University Wrestling. Coach Chris Ayres took over the helm as Head coach for the Princeton University team in 2005. He has continued to welcome the PAWS wrestlers into the PU wrestling family and has taught lessons for the program. He has been an invaluable help and a strong proponent of the program since he arrived.
In 2002, Dr. Mark McLaughlin took over as head coach of PAWS. Coach McLaughlin, with the help of an excellent coaching staff (see coaching bios) built on the foundations that Coach New began and has lead the team to even more accomplishments. PAWS wrestlers have shown excellent development in the technical skills of wrestling. Even more importantly, PAWS wrestlers have learned the essentials of commitment to a team, dedication to health and fitness, and discipline to achieve goals. All of these achievements have been anchored by the central premise of having fun with athletics. This is our first and foremost goal.
In 2005, PAWS wrestling was honored to have its first 2 NJ State Champions. This accomplishment by Maaziah Bethea and brother Ray was a great honor for the entire program and signified that PAWS had become a major force in Mercer county and NJ wrestling. The following year, led by Erik Snyder, the PAWS team stormed to their first and unprecedented Mercer County Championship with a margin of victory of over 100 points! The following year PAWS added another state champion crown to its trophy case. PAWS now holds 3 State champion crowns, two runner ups, one third place, and 6 other state place winners.
Facilities at Princeton University
Through a rental agreement, most PAWS practices will take place at in the wrestling room at Jadwin Gymnasium, a world class facility on the campus of Princeton University. The wrestling room is located on Level E of the building. You can drive relatively to the building by entering campus off of either Washington Road or Faculty Road. There is more parking available if you enter off of Faculty Road. Please keep in mind that if another Princeton University event is taking place at Jadwin Gym, you may not be allowed to park in the lot near the building. Some practices will be held at The Lawrenceville School.
