Status: Still Working

Coach Jason LaChica, formerly a wrestling coach at Holy Cross and Thomas Jefferson High School, is the new Athletic Director at Bolton High School in Alexandria, Louisiana.  One of the first things he did was to recruit kids for wrestling.

Granted, they will not have any rivals across town - they must travel for matches.  But Bolton's location in Alexandria means it can reach most of the state's wrestling schools in less than or just over two hours.  New Orleans is over a 300-mile trip should they want to travel that far.  A summary of miles and estimated travel time is below:

City Miles Estimated Time Basile 74 1:18 Lafayette 87 1:20 Monroe 97 1:45 Lake Charles 99 1:46 Shreveport/Bossier City 124 1:47 Baton Rouge 128 2:06 New Orleans 203 3:10

Bolton High School is located at 2101 Vance Avenue, Alexandria, LA 71301.  They will be competing in Division III.

The below article was written by LaMar Gafford and publishes in The Town Talk on March 31st, 2017:

LaMar Gafford, lgafford@thetowntalk.com, (318) 487-6352 • Published 6:42 p.m. CT March 31, 2017

Bears to wrestle in 2017-18

Soon enough, Bolton's opponents will learn how difficult it is to wrestle a Bear. Bolton announced that it will begin a wrestling program in the 2017-18 school year — making it the first Central Louisiana school to do so. "Wrestling is the oldest sport in the world and it's strange this is the only part of the state that doesn't have it." Bolton athletic director Jason LaChica said. "What we aim to do is to try to narrow out the competition and bring something to Central Louisiana that could light a fire and spread. If we have enough interest, we may be able to get a collegiate wrestling program up here somewhere." LaChica, Bolton's athletic director, swimming coach and former baseball coach, claimed that six students inquired him about joining the wrestling team as soon as he announced that he was looking for athletes. That number gradually went up to 14-17 students as he told his class to watch the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The response was positive. "I said to my P.E. class, 'Hey, if anybody gets a chance this weekend, turn it on ESPN,'" LaChica said. "A couple of kids the following Monday said, 'That's what it is?' and I said, 'That's what it is. It's not the WWE and slapping elbows, but it's more geared toward the Olympic style.'" LaChica was previously a wrestling assistant at Holy Cross in New Orleans from 2007 to 2009 and the head coach at Thomas Jefferson from 2010 to 2012.

Eric Desormeaux, Holy Cross' current coach, remembered LaChica from growing up in the neighborhood and for his judo expertise.

"When Eric came there, he walked up to me and asked me to teach his guys how to throw," LaChica said. "The stand-up game was so similar that I was just a natural."

After getting the gig at Ben Franklin, LaChica guided the Jaguars to finishes of 10th, fourth and third the LHSAA state tournament.

While he helped Thomas Jefferson's fledgling program achieve heights, LaChica hopes that the sport can rejuvenate Bolton.

"Everybody know what's happening at Bolton," LaChica said. "Our numbers are dropping. We're just trying to save a legacy and go a different route to build Bolton back up. I think wrestling is a good tool. All of the sports I've been involved in can relate to aspects of life, but wrestling is something of its own. It brings every part of life: sacrifice, hard work, determination and head-to-head adversity."

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